The Second Spy
by American Outlaw
Summary: During Voldemorts first reign the Order had 2 spies in his inner circle. Severus Snape and Persephone Parker. Persephone was unjustly thrown into jail and is now being called upon once again to get close to Voldemort. But can she forgive and forget?
1. Prologue

Prologue

Persephone POV ( 2 years before Harry is Born)

I came to Great Britain when I was 18. Ready to begin my exciting career in The Ministry Of Magic, what I got was so much more.

My job was working under the ambassador to the US Ministry. I had thought (naïve as I was) that this meant being part of top political meetings and in the center of the news. What my job actually entailed was making coffee, sending owls and relaying notes between offices. Our memos were much too important to send through the air mail, so I was on my feet most of the day.

One day, while trying to retrieve a runaway memo that was stuck in the elevator (my last time trying to be lazy I assure you) I fell into a redheaded woman's pile of papers. While I made a fool of myself trying to apologize she very cleverly cast some charm and they all flew back into her hands. We laughed about it and she helped me up. She introduced herself to me as Lily Evans, she worked on the 9 floor and would love if at lunch we would go out and get some tea. "How very British", I remarked. She laughed and we agreed to meet in the Atrium at twelve. I rushed back to the office, thrilled at having a new friend and looked forward to lunch the rest of the day. When Lily and I met in the bustling central of the ministry we didn't stop laughing and chatting all hour, we were immediate friends.

A few weeks after meeting Lily she began to gush about her fiancé, a man named James Potter. I can always define love by the look on Lily's face when she talked about James. She glowed and there was a attractive content smile fixed on her face, as if nothing in her world could go wrong. I had only seen him and had never been properly introduced to James, but I knew of his personality and everyone talked about him as though he was their best friend. Almost no one had anything bad to say about him. He was a good looking man with dark wild hair and a well built physique. He was the only person I had ever seen who could pull off those terrible glasses and still look powerful. I liked James, mainly because he loved Lily so. And not to mention he had an undeniable goodness about him. A perfect match for my friend.

All this time working at the ministry I had never payed attention to the rumors that were circulating. People found murdered with blank stares on their faces, clearly Avada Kedavra. Everyone knew it but they were too scared to even fathom that someone could go around and hurt so many people like that. They were all marked with a head that had a snake protruding from its mouth. (This was later changed to a skull to become the fully fledged Dark Mark.) All anyone knew was that it was connected to a Wizard named Lord Voldemort. It all came to a startling head when I was running late one morning. The office was abuzz with activity, people running everywhere. Well the ones who were brave enough to show up that is. Voldemort and his followers had killed an entire wizarding family and the full fledged Dark Mark was above their house. The Death Eaters were everywhere and no one could be trusted. More and more reports of disappearances came in everyday. The country was scared. Little did I know that I would soon be closer to this object of fear than anyone could have ever imagined.

Because of the appearance of Voldemort I was busier than ever and was thrilled when Lily invited me out as a double date for James' friend Remus. Usually a double date would have supplied a resounding no from me, but I was so anxious to get a break from work that I took her offer with pleasure. I arrived at the restaurant/bar in London and sat down with my companions.

Remus Lupin was a sweet man who looked as though he had been through more terrible things in his life than anyone I had ever seen. His face was kind and wizened, with a wonderful smile that spread throughout his entire face. He had something to say about everything, I have never known another man who lived with such passion in his life. A trait that later events would brutally propel out of him. We talked about anything that we could think of, I loved everything about him in the first few minutes I met him. But a friendly love, and we both understood that. Especially when _he_ walked in.

James had told me that his best friend, Sirius Black might be joining us later and that he was known to be quite the "arse." (How I loved how my new friends spoke) I saw him as he came through the front door and it had registered to me how attractive he was. Medium length black hair that swayed darkly with an undeniable elegance around his dark blue eyes. I pushed him off as the local heartthrob and nothing else, going back to my conversation with Remus. But when James stood up and waved down the beautiful man, my heart caught in my throat. THIS was the arse? The stunning creature gracefully walking towards our table? And as he got closer I realized it must be true, anyone that perfect on the outside must be rotten to the core.

We were introduced by James (who I must say had an extremely large grin on his face) Remus shook hands with Sirius and excused himself, saying something about going job hunting in the morning. Sirius sat down next to me and he and James began talking about their school days and the "do you remember when we did that" stories. Lily was laughing and I was fascinated. Sirius would tell me later that he did this to try and impress me. It worked. When James and Lily stood up to dance it left Sirius and I alone, he turned his gorgeous smile towards me and the two of us barely noticed when our friends came back to say good night. We were so engrossed in conversation with each other. I was sold to him, and him to me. It was love and we knew it.

I stayed suspended on this cloud throughout the next week, no bad news could touch me, I was just too happy. A month and a half of perfect bliss later, my new friends and I were invited to a dinner party at the school, Hogwarts. Sirius spoke of the headmaster and the grounds with such fondness that I was thrilled to go.

The school was in fact a magnificent castle. Seemingly hovering above a great black lake its turrets were tall and grand and the grounds vast. Even the dark forest to the east looked eerily beautiful. Our little group included the "2 couples" (as Remus called us) himself and a stout mousy faced man named Peter Pettigrew. He seemed an odd fit for this group of strong attractive men. His nose was long and pointed, his back was hunched over and his nose was constantly twitching. He followed the other 3 men religiously, Lily said she pitied him. How could you not? We all apparated into the local town and hiked up the long walkway to the castle, its lights a beacon for warmth and safety in these dark times.

When we reached the entrance hall Remus started spouting off information about the school and its glorious ceiling that reflected the sky. I was speechless, trying to take in all the beauty at once. My school in Salem had been a wonderful place but it was not so… striking, would be the only word. Unfortunately my time to gape was cut short when a house elf appeared and we followed him to the headmasters office. Where I soon had so much to look at The Great Hall was a distant memory. About 30 other people were inside the large room. A few I recognized from the Ministry, Frank and Alice Longbottom among others I had seen around. There was also a dark-greasy haired, hook-nosed man that glared at my friends as soon as we entered the room. Sirius looked fiercely at him and stepped between him and myself, seemingly sheltering me from him. Not a minute later a door at the top of a circular staircase opened and out came the most commanding man I had and will ever see in my life.

Albus Dumbledore wore a set of magnificently crafted blue and gold robes and a tall pointed wizards hat that would have looked silly on any lesser man. His hair was as white as snow and this and his beard grew down to his navel. Despite this he exuded a youthful prescense and extreme power, it would have been difficult NOT to respect him already. He grimaced and spoke in a booming voice,

"I fear I have led you all here under false pretenses. There is no party but if you are hungry I assure we will not let you starve." A few people laughed at his attempted joke, I smiled, he continued.

"As all of you know, Lord Voldemort is a large threat that must be taken care of." At the mention of Voldemort's name many in the crowd shuddered.

I don't remember exactly when it became unacceptable to say his name outloud. All I do remember about it was that we had all discussed it as a strange and foreign concept. To fear a name? We all (with the exception of Peter) freely said his name out-loud on a daily basis. So why stop?

"I have called you all here because I believe you all to be trustworthy and passionate about this cause. If I was wrong about anyone of you please feel free to leave now and think on it no more." Sirius glanced around and said to James in hushed tones, " Of course, McGonagall isn't here. She's outside ready to perform a memory charm on anybody dumb enough to leave this room." James chuckled and Sirius moved closer to me. No one left. Dumbledore went on, " I will come to each one of you personally and give you your specific instructions. But for now, make sure to keep your eyes and ears open for any news or ways to get closer to a Death Eater. We need information. We need spies, as we can be sure that he already has some. We need data collectors, we need as much help as we can get. Look for any opportunity you can and remember, we are being watched." After this little speech we all took a vow of allegiance to what we now called The Order Of The Pheonix and went home. Sirius asked me later why I would pledge myself so willingly to someone I had just met. Lay my life on the line for them. I could only reply, "It's Albus Dumbledore." Sirius just laughed and agreed.

Yet again I found myself disappointed in the work I was given. Dumbledore had no clear instructions for me since he didn't know the American yet. I was striving to prove myself, and my wish was soon granted.

Walking down the lonely street to my flat late one night, I heard someones footsteps behind me, faster and faster they came. All the while my hand was inching towards my wand. If it was a muggle I didn't need it, but just in case. All of a sudden, I spun around to confront the shadow behind me. I met him, nose to nose. His face was covered in a black mask and the rest of his head concealed in a black hood. I could see a sliver of silvery blonde hair protruding from under his mask and his stormy gray eyes looked down on me with disdain.

"We need to talk." His voice was low and undeniably regal. I pulled my wand and pointed it between his eyes, "Then talk." The Death Eater didn't flinch.

"I am a mere servant of the Dark Lord, the one who will lead us out of this chaotic and filthy mud blood reign. You, a descendant of Proctor must wish for that." I hid my disgust well. He went on, "Our joy would be a country of only purebloods or one where the half breeds and muggles were at least put in their place. You Persephone Parker can help us with this noble cause. Are you interested in being a part of our revolution?" This was the exact opportunity Dumbledore had told us to keep our eyes open for. I answered Yes, and so began my descent into darkness.

Dumbledore was thrilled to hear that there was another person able and willing to be a spy in Voldemorts inner circle. He wouldn't initially tell me the other spy but I was sure I'd figure it out sooner or later so I didn't pressure him. But he worried about my safety. (Which basically meant that he wasn't sure if I could do it or not). So in order to prove to him my capabilities I met with him 2 nights after my meeting with the Death Eater in the Street. I went to his office once again and waited for him while I studied his very own phoenix. Attempting to sneak up on me he walked out onto the landing and said in his booming voice, "His name is Fawkes." I wouldn't let him get to me, no matter what little "tests" he threw my way. "He's beautiful. Let's get started." I replied coldly. I have a slight feeling that he was impressed by my willingness to begin. A big smile kind of gave it away. I was never a shy person but something about Albus Dumbledore intimidated me, even if I would never give him the satisfaction of knowing that, I cant deny it to myself. Dumbledore smiled, "We will begin as soon as my occlumecey professional gets here."

"You are not administrating the test?" I asked.

"No, one of my teachers, Severus Snape will be testing you so that I can watch your reactions." _But no pressure right?_

The man named Snape walked in just moments later and to my surprise it was the hooked nosed man that Sirius had guarded me from at the initial order meeting. He sauntered in with an arrogant air about him and he glared at me as long as he dared. I wasn't going to play his little game. Without warning I felt the greasy haired Snape probing into my mind, I continued to stare into the fire and look at all the strange objects in the office, easily throwing him off. Still snooping inside my mind, I started a conversation with Dumbledore about the local Quidditch teams. Snape looked furious. Dumbledore was impressed. It continued like this for an hour or so. Hard questioning and background stories, rules etc.

"If you feel your life or the life of an innocent is in jeopardy, get yourself and them out. We will and can protect you."

"Get in as far as you can but report everything."

And so on and so on. The name of the other spy was obviously Severus Snape and as we were both the "double agents" we were not allowed to act as though we had ever met. Only made sense. Dumbledore said I wouldn't find this information very interesting but Sirius would. And as long as I was telling Sirius I might as well tell James and Lily. The chain of conversation was bound to get through our little group sooner or later. I left his office 2 hours after I had arrived ready to go the next morning to meet Lord Voldemort. I had passed Dumbledores test.

When I got home I found Sirius sitting on my couch. Not an unusual sight since he found out I had been followed the other night, but he never went home afterwards. I didn't mind. He usually got up to kiss me hello, but tonight he just sat on the couch, staring off into space.

"Sirius what's wrong?" I asked, puzzled.

"I don't want you to go tomorrow." He said as he stood up.

"I have to go." I said, crossing the room and meeting him behind the couch, "How could you expect me not to?"

"It's not that I don't think you can. I know you can… I …. I just worry. This guy… he will kill you without a second thought. I don't wanna lose you. I mean, what if something happens to you?" I wrapped my arms around his waist and lay my head against his collarbone.

"I cant make any promises, you know that." Raising my head, I looked him in the eyes, "But what if this was reversed? Could you live with yourself if you saw all of this evil happening in the world and just sat on the sidelines? I know you couldn't, it would drive you crazy."

He sighed, " I know your right, but it doesn't mean that I have to be happy about it." I laughed, "Just promise me you'll be careful."

"Of course, I have coming home to you to look forward to. I wouldn't want to miss that." He leaned down and kissed me passionately. Lifting me onto the kitchen counter he deepened the kiss as my hands struggled with trying to get his old t-shirt off his broad shoulders. I pulled it off as he yanked off my old leather jacket and of course at that very moment, someone knocked on the door. Sirius pulled apart from me and looked almost pleadingly into my eyes, begging me to let it go. "Have them come back later," he whispered. The knocks came louder and we heard James and Lilys voices on the other side, "We know your in there!" "Persephone you cant hide!" and they laughed. Sirius begrudgingly pulled his hands off of my hips and walked over to the large sliding door. Forgetting he was shirtless, his bare feet slapped on the floor loudly and he yanked open the door. James rushed in and laughed embarrassingly at himself when he looked at Sirius and myself, clothes on the floor and counter. Lily looked apologetic, "Are we interrupting something?" A resounding "Yes." came from Sirius. But I laughed and told them to sit down, they had brought wine. I flipped around on the counter and grabbed four glasses, "So what are we celebrating?" I asked as I jumped down and Sirius grabbed his t-shirt off the floor.

Lily and James gave each other sly smiles and Lily said, "We have decided that because of the evil times we are in, why wait to get married?" I grinned, "Does this mean what I think it means?"

"We're getting married in one month!" The congratulations were tossed around and hugs were given, I'd like to say that I was truly thrilled and happy with the nights events but I was so nervous about the next day. I was to meet the same Death Eater who had approached me at seven in the morning, as the time came closer I became even more nervous, what if I never did see them again? What if I wasn't even going to be at the wedding. Sirius was asked to be best man (of course) and as a surprise to myself, I was asked to be Lilys maid of honor. I was shocked since I hadn't known her for very long but I was honored and accepted her offer none the less. Sirius managed to very graciously get them to leave in only 40 minutes, somehow convincing them that it was their idea to depart. Its not that I didn't want them there, it was just… I needed to be with Sirius before tomorrow. He seemed to have felt the same way. I will always remember that night between us, the last night before our lives were thrown into a tumult.

He walked over to the couch and leaned in towards me, his kiss was passionate as before, but he was longing for something. Longing for me to stay with him? How I wished I could. His hands crept us my shoulders and pulled me in to him as he gently lay down on top of me, covering my body. My hands reached down towards his hips, finding the button on his jeans, I felt him grow hard and his breathing become jagged. He kissed my neck and felt around for my bra strap as I pulled that damned t shirt off again. I wrapped my legs around his waist and pulled his hips close to mine. We couldn't get close enough to each other. Sirius's body felt so good next to mine, we were a perfect match.

All night we stayed there in my flat, eventaully moving down to the floor, never growing tired. And it was to my irritation when the clock on the wall hit 6:30 and I knew I had to get dressed and leave. Moving slowly so as not to disturb him I crept from the room and got cleaned up, throwing on whatever clothes were in reach. I stared at the handsome nude body laying on my floor before finally departing at 6:50. Heavy Black cloak and all. I hurried down the street and waited in the alley, feet away from where I first made contact with Voldemorts lemming. He appeared at exactly 7:00 and without a word handed me a portkey. I put my cloak on and he activated the old tuna can. There was a tug somewhere behind my navel and I landed in an old and majestic wizarding manor. The Death Eater turned towards me, ripping his mask off he introduced himself, "I am Lucius Malfoy and welcome to my home." I was right about his hair, he had a silvery blonde mane around an attractive but condescending face. He was taller than me, but only barely. I pulled my hood down and followed him up the stairs, the marble stairs as he made sure I called them.

We went down a long hallway and came to a stop outside of an inconspicuous wooden door. The man named Lucius knocked and a strong but firm voice sounded from inside. "Send her in." Lucius opened the door a crack and nodded me inside.

The room was dark, but I could see the large amount of refinements in the small space. Voldemort was sitting in a throne like chair in the corner, a basilisk winding about his ankles. I bent into an immediate bow and waited for him to speak. Voldemort stood and came to me, touching my head with his long fingers. "Do you know why you are here?" His voice was powerful and raspy at the same time, his fingers felt like claws upon my scalp. All I could see were his robes menacingly grazing his feet, and the snake had slithered out of view. "To rid the world of the mud bloods and muggle filth my lord." I replied confidently, not moving a muscle.

"Good Girl. I understand you are a ministry worker, are you not?"

"You are correct my lord." My courage was growing, but I was still scared shitless. He went on, "Now I want you to report to us of any news that is happening within the ministry, any information about Dumbledores plans for my demise etc etc. As of now Parker, do you know anything that might interest me?"

"Yes my lord. I have learned that Dumbledore may be planning to create a secret society, devoted to your destruction." This was some of the information Dumbledore and I had discussed to give to Voldemort. If I never gave him anything he would grow suspicious. Voldemort asked me to find as many names as possible of the people who were in this society and report back to him in one weeks time. He then dismissed me with a wave of his hand, seeming to think of me as gum underneath his shoe. When I left Malfoy manor I apparated to the school and told Dumbledore what I knew, he thanked me and congratulated me on my first successful day. I rushed home to find Sirius waiting for me on the couch, again. We didn't leave the flat all day.

One month passed with my new carefully planned information being given to Voldemort, new secret meetings and new meetings with other death eaters. So by the day of Lily and James wedding I was confident in my abilities. Not cocky mind you, but confident. The ceremony was beautiful and heartfelt, we all cried when the happy couple kissed as man and wife. Sirius included, though he would never admit it. At the reception I danced with the groom, Remus and even the beautiful bride (she led) but the rest of the night was spent in Sirius's arms, twirling around the dance floor. Right before the speech's Sirius pulled me in close and asked me to marry him. I answered yes and we both agreed to wait to announce the engagement. Needless to say, we found it hard to concentrate the rest of the night.

The next 2 weeks passed in a flash, until I was called into Voldemorts presence once again. I kneeled once more and he rushed to me, yanking my arm out of its sleeve and a scorching pain shot through my entire body. I tried to hide it but my arm felt like it was on fire. When he finally gave me back my arm there was a repulsive Dark Mark upon it, sign of a Death Eater. I wanted with all of my being to cry, not for the still resounding pain, but for the mindless evil tattooed onto my skin. I had to keep my composure.

"Rise." Voldemorts voice sounded different, forceful and passion filled instead of indifferent and self important. I stood and faced his cold face with its glowing red eyes, even though I had been warned of his appearance it still shocked me. Grabbing my arm, he leaned in and crushed my lips with his. My first reaction would have been to pull away but his sudden movements and strength kept me firmly in his control. A knock came at the door, I actually appreciated this one.

"My Lord?" It was Lucius Malfoy. Voldemort swore and stuck his head out the door. They had a hurried conversation all the while I was praying for him to get called away. The Dark Lord yelled something and opened the door fully, ushering me out. As I passed him he whispered into my ear, " I will call for you." As soon as I was out of site I raced out of the manor, I had to get to Sirius. His reaction was exactly what I expected,

"I'll kill him!"

"Sirius think about this! Whose the only person who can get me out of this?" And soon we were hiking up the road to Hogwarts castle to see Dumbledore. Bursting into his office Sirius yelled,

"That bastard!"

Once Dumbledore and I managed to calm him down I explained what had happened. "Did he give you a mark?"

"A mark?" Sirius asked, "What kind of mark?"

"The Dark Mark. He gives it to all his death eaters to get in contact with them." Dumbledore replied matter of factly. I rolled up my sleeve and showed it to him, Sirius looked alarmed and if possible, even angrier. Dumbledore sighed.

"I'm afraid we have few options. Unfortunately, if you don't do what he wants you to, he will kill you and you cannot deter him from what he wants. He will not be distracted. We can pull you out but you haven't done half the good that you could." Sirius and I sensed where this was heading, Sirius looked about ready to attack someone. Dumbledore continued, "There are innocents yet to be saved, people that you can help. Having 2 spies is the best weapon we have in this war. More than Aurors and the entire Ministry put together, you and Severus cannot be replaced."

"Then let Sniffulus sleep with him." Sirius said loudly.

Dumbledore grimaced, "Sirius I don't like it either. But the only options are that she goes along with it and helps us or she quits and the 2 of you live in hiding. I know she wouldn't quit." This time I really did cry.

The first time that you are with the Dark Lord is a tutorial mainly. He expects certain things, he wants his instructions followed. Not that he's into bondage (surprisingly) but that you are to be submissive in every way. His kisses are cold and lifeless and his skin is like rubber. If you look very closely you can almost see the remnants of what was once an attractive man, but he has been taken over by evil and darkness. I was told to look into his eyes when he entered me, every time I felt my heart break a little more, another piece of my soul deteriorated. Sirius still loved me but our nights were now mainly spent laying next to each other in a tight embrace. I was disgusted with myself but I was slowly wrapping Voldemort around my finger and this had its advantages.

The information I now got out of Malfoy manor was invaluable. Dumbledore was thrilled every time he saw me, I would swear he had developed a habit of skipping. As time progressed I was getting better and better at my double agent job, Lucius Malfoy was at my beck and call and since I was the Dark Lords favorite any kind of information I wanted was at my fingertips. Lily announced in late October that she was pregnant and Sirius, fueled by James' happiness was once again loving and attentive. My relationship with Voldemort was something we never talked about, just a second job. It might not have been natural but it worked for us, due to the second job of mine we decided to hold off getting married. I didn't want to be cheating on my fiancé when I said "I do." even if he knew about it. We all went on like this happy and virtually care free. Alice Longbottom was also pregnant and she and Lily spent most of their time deciding on baby names and curtains, things I wasn't very interested in. During this period Remus and I became close friends and spent a large portion of our time together. (Except for when the full moon came around. Luckily for him I knew how to make the wolfs bane potion and it was brewed for him every month.) The babies were born in July, Neville to Alice and Frank; James and Lily named their boy Harry James. Harry looked exactly like James, but he had Lily's eyes. Sirius and I were named God Parents to little Harry and Sirius could not have been happier for his friend.

Despite my double agent role and Sirius' work for the order we lived practically normal lives. We babysat Harry when his parents went out, saw muggle movies (while using the polyjuice potion for disguises) and made love with passion. The October after Harry turned 1, I noticed a difference in Voldemort. He was becoming nervous and edgy, he said he had to take care of certain people. When I pressured him for who, he let slip: The Potters. Including their son. I convinced Dumbledore to insist to them to use a secret keeper and go in to hiding. James wanted to use Sirius, but Sirius felt that he was too obvious of a choice. When I suggested Remus their faces grew dark, there had been evidence of a spy in the order and all signs pointed to Lupin. I couldn't believe it but if it meant keeping their little family safe I would do whatever was needed. Sirius suggested Peter, we all laughed but it made sense. Peter wouldn't be thought of for a secret keeper. The death eaters could go after Sirius all they wanted but he wouldn't have the information, it would be in the most unlikely place. Knowing something big was coming, we all went into hiding. Sirius and I went to central London and James and Lily went to Godrics Hollow.

On Halloween night, Sirius who was sleeping next to me, woke with a start. He was sweating and terrified, all he could say was, "James." I knew. We immediately left, I headed to Malfoy Manor while Sirius went to Godrics Hollow to check on the Potters. We would meet back in an hour. When I arrived at the Manor, Lucius was running around and ordering the servants to hide all of Voldemorts things.

He yelled, "The Potters killed the Dark Lord! Our salvation is gone!" I ran from the house and went back to the flat to wait for Sirius who showed up with a white look upon his face, tears were streaming down his cheeks, I stood up and we embraced. Through sobs I could barely make out, " James, Lily, dead." When I asked him what happened to Harry Sirius replied that Hagrid (Dumbledores gamekeeper) took him to Dumbledore. We just held each other and cried for hours over the demise of our friends. Once we had exhausted ourselves we started talking about how it could have happened, Sirius was the one to reach the conclusion that it must have been Peter. He stood up and grabbed his wand, "I'm going after that Sonovabitch." Wiping the tears from my eyes I stood up and begged with him, "Sirius don't go. I cant lose you too."

"Its Peter, I can handle him." He replied arrogantly.

"But Sirius hes fooled us all along! He must be more powerful than we thought, he not only fooled us, he fooled Dumbledore too!" I was crying again. But Sirius said "He cant get away with this." As if that settled everything.

"Then let the Aurors deal with him! Please don't go. I'm begging you!"

"I have to go. James was my best friend. He deserves justice."

"But why do you have to be the one to give it? Please Sirius, stay. Please."

"I love you." He said as he walked out the door. That was the last time I would see him in person for 14 years. He would soon be splashed all over the papers for the vicious murders of the poor noble Peter Pettigrew and twelve others, for this he was throw into Azkaban indefinitely. I knew the truth, Pettigrew was Voldemorts man, not my Sirius. But trying to get to Dumbledore in the aftermath of the Dark Lords destruction was near to impossible and when a ministry official caught site of my arm, it was all over. Barty Crouch had me thrown into Azkaban just like Sirius had been, no trial at all. The only difference was that I was not front page news. Just a name on a list of captured Death Eaters. It would be 14 years before I would see the outside or my love, again.

To be continued...

I know its long! Good Job getting through it! Ha ha, the later chapters will be shorter and get more to the point. And you needed to get to know Persephone.

Like it/ Hate it? Well tell me if you like it by commenting, You know that little box that says submit comment. Yea that one!

Disclaimer, All I own is Persephone. So dont touch her. Shes mine. JK Rowling owns everything else, and the only way I profit is from Comments so you know, hint hint.


	2. Azkaban

**Review Responses: **

Ok so response to the one

The Great And Powerful Oz- Thanks for the review! I have a feeling for a while your gonna be the only reviewer, but that's ok. I agree it is sad but it _might_ get better for them- lol. Love ya! Cant wait till YOU update too! (hint hint) lol j/p

**Chapter 2- Azkaban **

_Normal POV- 14 years later_

_A cell inside of Azkaban prison._

The prisoner sat in the damp, dark cell all alone, thinking about the past, but she couldn't do it for long; anything remotely happy would be literally sucked out of her as soon as a guard past by. Prisoner #1249 had been there for so long that she had learned to work the system as best she could, think of happiness right after guard checks, and you might be able to keep those rebellious thoughts for 5 minutes. Her time was up, a guard was coming, she began to think of the day she was arrested. The guard floated by her cell, stopping momentarily, _the Aurors surrounded her_, and the guard continued on.

Many people had been driven mad in mere weeks but #1249 had been strong for almost 14 years, knowing of her innocence she could let go of the guilt. The true Death Eater in the cell beside her mumbled to themselves and rocked back and forth all day, and then cried in their sleep. She was used to how he screamed whenever the Dementor would glide by, used to how she hated herself for not caring anymore.

_Outside of the prison, same day. _

Cornelius Fudge inelegantly jumped from the boat on the grimy beach outside of the fortress. Looking up he squinted into the bright sun, taking in the sheer size of the building, he gasped when a large black cloaked figure stepped into his line of view. The Dementors didn't speak but Fudge had been here enough times that he learned to just shut up and follow them through the inspection. 2 ½ years ago he didn't follow their instructions and it allowed a highly dangerous criminal to escape, the whole situation had been very embarrassing for his entire office, Sirius Black, known right hand man of Who-Know- Who was off walking around Great Britain, free as a bird! Fudge had set men on the case and he had almost had him up at Hogwarts. That whole situation left Fudge red in the face, but trying to catch Black was next to impossible, like trying to catch smoke with your bear hands. The hunt was still on and that damn Dumbledore wouldn't tell Fudge what he knew; Fudge hated him for that. At least the public had now calmed down about it, he could try and save face.

The Minister for Magic followed the Death Eater up the short pathway to the wizards detention center entrance, Fudge, although he would never admit it, was scared of this place. The tall stone walls and the wailing prisoners, or even worse the prisoners who seemed perfectly sane and stared at him with hatred behind their eyes. When Fudge reached the gates he turned in his wand (so that the prisoners couldn't snatch it away) and met with the warden for the inspection tour. The warden was a man named Miles Coben, a grisly middle aged man with stringy dark hair and glassy eyes, Fudge always figured that the warden had earned his appearance by all these years with the Dementors and he almost pitied him for it….almost. But Coben was not helpful with Fudges generosity, he was a rude, bitter man and the Minister feared that a large amount of the prisons stench came from the warden himself. Coben greeted the minister and without a word, ushered the politician through a door with the words "Suicidals" emblazoned on it. Fudge cringed and walked through.

The prisoners here were all the ones who had given up on ever being released and took to trying to find ways to end their pathetic lives, whether by refusing to eat or finding rocks to cut into their arms. The truly desperate ones had been stripped of their clothes for trying to make a noose out of them. The inmates reached out to him and screamed obscenities and threw whatever they had of their pathetic meals at his awful lime green bowler. Coben ordered a Dementor to the hallway and the detainees were quiet. Fudge shuddered and the pair went to the top level to see the high security inmates, the place where Fudge had seen Sirius Black before, this was the floor that had been nicknamed "Death Eater Alley," for almost every Death Eater that had ever been caught was locked up here. The cells were small 6x6 cubes with no windows and the only light came from the bars leading to the hallway, they had small cots and many had what looked like attempted calendars cut into the stone walls. Coben had a sick smile upon his grotesque face as he explained to Fudge the extra security measures that were being taken to prevent any more "unfortunate mistakes." Fudge examined the prisoners faces as he walked past, many had the usual blank stares, some were sleeping and others were trying to get Fudges attention. As he walked around the corner he saw one of the most frightening kind of inmates, the ones who stared him down. Generally he would look away but this woman would not let him go, it was as if she was trying to read his mind, she could see through him. The minister stopped Coben mid-speech and inquired about her. Coben looked down at his clipboard and simply remarked, "Prisoner #1249, incarcerated as a Death Eater, been here 14 years next Tuesday."

"I also use to be a ministry worker, does your little paper tell you that?" Fudge was surprised by the woman's voice, he had expected a hoarse deep sound, or nothing at all. But instead her voice was powerful and very feminine, it intrigued him. Coben began to usher a Dementor to her cell but Fudge placed a hand upon his shoulder and walked over to her.

"What is your name?" He asked brusquely.

She smiled an amused grin and replied, "I don't know if I remember it Cornelius. Its been so long since someone asked me that."

"Cornelius? Have we met before?"

"Not in person, but I heard the curses being yelled at you from all the way downstairs." She looked into his eyes again and she had him, her occlumecy was still sharp even after all these years. She saw his days at the office of complete frustration, his night times spent alone and his fear of failure. Fudge pulled away and Coben then called the Dementor to the cell. Fudge was shaking and furious at being embarrassed like that. A witch in prison could over power him so easily. #1249 almost felt badly from him…almost.

For her little "stunt with the Minister" she was given 2 weeks cut rations. It was only to weaken her so that they could move her to the suicidal corridor, let them try, she'd be ready for the bastards. Prisoner #1249, a.k.a Persephone Parker had been in Azkaban for so long that a few weeks of 2 pieces of bread and water was a small price to pay for some entertainment. She knew she could escape if she wanted to, she had gone over the scenarios a thousand times in her mind. But what was there for her to escape to? As far as she knew, Harry was happy with his aunt and uncle, the Dark Lord was dead and Sirius was rotting away in some other cell inside the fortress. If she were to escape where would she go? Persephone refused to live her life on the run.

Oh if only she knew….

**To Be Continued…**

I know- lots shorter, but I covered the basics and Persephone's still a badass after all these years.

**Next time: An old friend visits the prison with an offer for Coben….**


	3. A Proposition

**Review Response:**

To the future leader of Kajikistan: Thanks again for the review! And yes it was short but that's all that Was needed. And Fudge followed a DEMENTOR up the hill, whoops my bad. But at least he didn't die in the boat and THEN follow him. Ha ha ha.

**Chapter 3: A Proposition**

_Normal POV: 2 weeks later_

_The beach outside of Azkaban Prison_

Albus Dumbledore stepped gracefully from the small boat and on to the same beach that Cornelius Fudge landed on not 2 weeks ago. He glanced up at the prison, how he hated this place, no one but one man deserved this kind of misery. And even for him it might be cruel and unusual.

As Dumbledore walked up the pathway he thought debasing thoughts about himself, yes even the mighty Dumbledore trashed himself. Ever since Sirius proved himself innocent in Harrys third year he knew that he should have been crusading to release Persephone, the only reason he hadn't before was because he believed the 2 to be in league together. But after ward, there was no excuse. He supposed it was because he was afraid of her reaction to him, he would try to disillusion himself and say that she had no where to go. But Sirius would have thought of something , anything for her. Thinking back on his decisions Albus hated himself for what these poor loyal people had been put through, incarcerations, possible Dementor kisses, hunted lives and now quite possibly starvation. But even he could not think of any legal way to release Persephone from jail, besides breaking her out, his hands were tied. Until a few days ago that is.

Harry Potter, Dumbledore's favorite student had emerged from the Triwizard maze clutching the body of Cedric Diggory and relaying the story of Voldemorts return to life, but when the imposter Moody was found to be Barty Crouch junior, Dumbledore had his solution for releasing Persephone. Coben, the warden of Azkaban, treasured his prison with all of his being, but he had messed up. Although Dumbledore was pleased that Sirius had managed to expunge his record it didn't change the fact that 2 convicted felons had escaped from the jail. This meant that the warden was not doing his job, and with the escape of Barty Crouch, a truly dangerous Death Eater, the warden could be bought. Even though Dumbledore hated doing it, the time had come to get her released. He had put it off long enough. But now, with Voldemort back, the Order needed her and her skills, it may have been a selfish thing to say, but it could not be denied. Dumbledore had reached the gate and was ushered in by a guard, and waited in the muggy courtyard for Coben to arrive.

When the warden came to greet the unexpected visitor he was fearful, Dumbledore avoided the prison at all costs, so this must be a dire occasion. Albus wasted no time,

"Coben, you have done a terrible thing." He said matter of factly. Coben shuddered and stammered a reply,

"What do you mean sir?"

"You let another prisoner escape." Cobens eyes became wide and fearful, "And we cannot have that happening now can we? Why, you would lose your prison wouldn't you?" The Warden had begun to sweat profusely and he was tugging at the tie around his neck, gasping for air, he was scared.

"Who has escaped sir?" He asked tentatively. Dumbledore's brow furrowed and he leaned in close to Cobens face for impact,

"A bad, bad Death Eater… Barty Crouch Jr. He has killed many people and recently just tried to kill another. All because of your negligence Coben." The wardens voice practically shrieked from nervousness,

"But he is dead sir! I had the guards bury him! I saw it with my own eyes!" Dumbledore shook his head and offered the stammering man an explanation,

" Do you remember how his father and sick mother requested a visit with their dying son? Just hours before he was buried?"

"Yes of course. My records are clear!"

"Well you buried Mrs. Crouch," Dumbledore said disapprovingly, "Your guards allowed him to slip right out from under their black hoods. If you doubt me, I will gladly help you dig up the grave marked "Barty Crouch Jr." but what you would find is the body of Mrs. Crouch, not her son." Coben was terrified, he spluttered a frightful response,

"Please Sir… Dumbledore… Dumbledore sir… please don't take Azkaban from me. Its all I have." Dumbledore looked contemplative,

"Well we might be able to come to an agreement. For you see you currently have a prisoner that I would like to take with me, if you could clear her record and get her released, I might be able to persuade the Wizengamot to let you keep your little hell hole of yours when you come up on charges. I cannot keep the charges from coming up, but I can get you off." Dumbledore hated having to bribe people but he would do what he must. He saw the wheels in Cobens head turning, assessing the situation, but what choice did he have? Dumbledore was a man of his word and this prison was his life, his only source of power in the world. Coben nodded his head in agreement and Dumbledore clapped his hands together in satisfaction, "Fantastic! So you get to work on the papers and I will go fetch her. Her name is Persephone Parker. I believe 1249 is her number. Where may I find her?"

"What was her crime?" Coben replied in a lackluster voice, looking defeated.

"She was a Death Eater." Dumbledore said pleasantly. Cobens eyes, if possible, became even larger, but he couldn't argue. So he replied,

"Then she would be on the top floor. I can get you a cell number if you need it."

"Oh no, I should be able to find it. Thank you Coben! I shall be back soon!" Dumbledore smiled congenially and started towards the stairs. The warden looked murderously at his retreating back but what else was he to do? He turned and headed to the records office and start to cover up the paper trail.

Dumbledore serenely ascended the spiral staircase encased in stone to the top floor. He walked carefully past the cells and studied the people inside, Bellatrix Lestrange saw him and threw a rude hand gesture his way. Dumbledore smiled and continued on. He reached a cell on the opposite end of the circular hallway and he noticed a slim figure with golden-brown dirty hair lying underneath a ragged blanket, she seemed to be asleep. Dumbledore knew this was Persephone so he pulled out his long wand and tapped at the lock on the cell door, it popped open and he marched inside. Persephone didn't move a muscle, concerned, Dumbledore bent down and turned her over. Her face was pale and sunken in, she felt cold to the touch and she still didn't stir. She was obviously sick, Dumbledore whipped off his elegant cloak and draped her in it, lifting her easily for a man his age, he carried her down the stairs. Making himself invisible to all the true Death Eaters so they would not know his accurate business, he angrily tread down past the office and to the boat. Handing her off to Alastor, he gave hurried instructions and retreated back to see the warden. Moody sped away to the mainland and the train that was awaiting to take her to London.

Dumbledore practically ran into the wardens office and was fighting off every feeling of hurting Coben that he had. The warden looked up as the grand old man stormed into the small office. Almost crying, Coben informed Dumbledore that she had had depleted rations for the last few weeks, she was being punished, Coben now understood why so many people feared Dumbledore. Albus managed to somehow hold his temper with the sniveling worm in front of him, perhaps it was out of guilt that Dumbledore was so angry. Actually that's exactly what it was, if Dumbledore hadn't waited so long, she wouldn't be this sick. He probed Coben for information on why she was "punished" and cursed himself for almost laughing, he could just imagine Fudges embarrassment. How his face would become distorted trying to act normal, Dumbledore was proud of his girl, she had proved that she had kept her spirit after all these years. When Albus had enough of frightening the warden he departed the prison and apparated to the school, he needed to find Poppy and send her to Grimmauld Place. Persephone needed immediate attention.

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Alastor Moody was a strange man. Many's first impression of him was that he was not human at all, but some half breed, when in reality he had gained his gnarled reflection as an Auror for the ministry. Nicknamed "Mad-Eye" to his friends because of a spinning fake eye in his left socket, he walked with a wooden leg and a clinking sound reverberated wherever he went, his nose seemed to be missing pieces and his Scottish accent could have been comical on anyone not as fierce as he. But he was doing something out of the ordinary for him, he was showing emotion for another human being.

He had barely known Persephone all those years ago but what he knew he respected. She was strong, loyal and passionate, all admirable qualities in his good eye. He had always thought that she was a beautiful woman, but now her limp body reminded him of a child, her dirty hair was a complete mess and he laughed as he thought how she would be so ashamed of the knots on her head. Her sunken, pale face had remnants of what was once great beauty, it was still there, but it was hidden behind sickness and despair. He whispered in his hoarse voice,

"Don't worry honey, you ain't going back." She still didn't move.

When Moody reached the mainland he met Remus Lupin and the two of them escorted her to the Hogwarts express. Seeing as how she was too weak to apparate they had no other choice then to take her by train to London, and eventually to Grimmauld Place.

After they loaded her into the compartment Remus bid goodbye to Moody and closed the compartment door. Moody would go on ahead and prepare everything in London. Remus lay her on the long sofa seat and covered her tightly with Dumbledore's cloak, he stared at his old friend, although he could barely recognize her now. Sirius would be going crazy right about now. Remus had listened to nothing else but Sirius's irritable talks about how Dumbledore had waited so long to release her from Azkaban. Remus agreed wholeheartedly, the ill woman in front of him had been gone far too long.

&&&&&&&&&&

Sirius Black sat in the cobweb filled drawing room staring into space. He still had that dark gorgeous hair and beautiful eyes but he seemed to have aged rapidly in the last 14 years. His face was freshly shaved and he anxiously awaited his friend Remus.

He had been dreaming of this day for 2 years, ever since he escaped from Azkaban his life had been a unpredictable series of hiding places and close calls. Dumbledore had done what he could and now he was finally going to be reunited with Persephone, but he had to admit, he was nervous. The guilt about their last meeting was eating him up inside and he blamed himself for everything that had happened to the two of them. She had begged him not to go and she never begged for anything. Her tear stained face was emblazoned into his memory and he had thought about it those 12 years in jail. Sirius hadn't known that Persephone had been arrested until he broke out 2 years ago, it was just as well, that kind of knowledge would have driven him insane. His love being so close, but he couldn't get to her. Sirius was terrified that she would hate him, but at the same time he couldn't wait until she arrived. The doorbell rang, Sirius took a deep breath and rose from the chair, steadying himself for what was about to come. But when he opened the door it was not Remus and Persephone; it was Madam Pomfrey, she hustled inside and Sirius shut the door, disappointed.

She gave him a curt nod and proceeded upstairs. Why was she here? Sirius followed her impatiently, issuing constant questions. Something must have been wrong at Azkaban.

"What happened? Why are you here? Whats wrong with Persephone?" Madam Pomfrey tried to ignore him as he followed he up to the first landing. But when she turned and saw the pleading, desperate look in his dark, handsome eyes she couldn't be so cruel so she broke down and told him what she knew.

"Sirius, I wish that I was not the one who had to tell you this. Im not really suited for it."

"I don't care, I want to know. Whats wrong with her? Is she hurt?" His face was frantic and he was beside himself with worry. Madam Pomfrey braced herself,

"Sirius, Persephone was starved as a punishment and now she's sick. Dumbledore asked me if I would come in and look after her. Get her back to health." Sirius's first reaction was of anger, a great desire to go and hurt that idiot Coben. But then he thought of Persephone, sick and alone. He felt his world begin to fall in on him, his breathing was becoming restricted, he was beginning to panic. Madam Pomfrey leaned down on the staircase and spoke firmly,

"Sirius don't do this to yourself, we cannot afford to have you fall apart too. Persephone is going to need you by her side."

"Is she going to be ok?" he begged to her, praying, as if this was the only woman who could save Persephone.

"I don't know, I haven't seen her yet. But we need to stay calm and do whatever we can to help her, understood?" She asked. Sirius nodded and apologized, standing back up, he took a few deep breaths and then took the lead, setting up a bedroom for her that would work well for her recuperation. Minutes later the door bell rang again, and Sirius, eerily calm, walked down the steps to the door.

_To be continued:_

Next Chapter: Sirius sees Persephone for the first time in 14 years, can he hold it together and help her recover?

Disclaimer: I own Persephone and Miles Coben, don't touch them. But if you want to use Coben send me something and I just might let you do it. I profit in no way from this story.

Ok ok so this ones kind shortish but I didn't have anything else to add without making the new chapter! Aaaaaaaaaah!


	4. A Reunion of Sorts

**Review Responses**

The Great and Powerful Oz- thanks AGAIN for the review and im so happy that you enjoy this story- makes me happy! (or did I already say that?) And so does mayonnaise? WTF was that?

Peyton/satan in a biscuit- Im not even gonna try and spell the last part of your penname- yikes- thanks for the review and in the beginning I did have Persephone being a lot like me but shes - how do you say? A badass me, I would cry.

Kurama-Forever- Thanks for reviewing (cool name by the way) and the name Persephone is the name of the goddess of the underworld. (for more in depth see below)

**Note: If you are interested in who Persephone is and don't know who she was then read this. **

The story went that Persephones mother Demeter warned her to never leave their home. When Persephone did leave, Hades, the God of the underworld took her with him back to his home, taking her away from her mother. So Demeter and Hades reached a compromise, that Persephone would spend half the year with her mother and half the year with Hades (her new husband) so we have seasons. BC Demeter was the goddess of agriculture she was sad in winter when her daughter was gone. So Persephone in my story spends half her time in the "Underworld" with the Death Eaters and half her time with her "mother" or the Order. The seasons part doesn't really matter to this story but its interesting.

**Chapter 4- A Reunion Of Sorts**

Sirius braced himself and opened the heavy door to the darkness outside, Remus was holding her, she was covered in a beautiful cloak and without words Sirius took Persephone from Remus and carried her upstairs. The werewolf simply followed the pair upstairs with his eyes, his friend needed this time with her. Remus turned to Mad-Eye and motioned him towards the kitchen for a well deserved drink, the duo silently stalked down the empty hallway and into the cavernous kitchen, leaving the hall lonely and bathed in darkness once more.

&&&&&&&&&&

Sirius was surprisingly calm for such a passionate man, usually ruled by his emotions, he was quiet and strong, laying her down on the bed for Madam Pomfrey to treat. The mismatched pair worked without a sound, treating her many ailments with potions and spells until she almost seemed human again. Her teeth were no longer rotted and yellow, her nails were not brown and brittle, but her starved body would take a few days of a powerful potion to fully heal, and Sirius would get her cleaned up. When they were finished with the initial "cleansing" as Pomfrey referred to it Sirius bent to his knees on the edge of the bed and grasped Persephones hand, Poppy touched him and the shoulder and quietly left the room.

Sirius's strength had dwindled when they had had to administer the potion to combat the starvation through her vein, she had winced in pain, that wasn't like her. Looking at his beautiful love tears came to his stormy eyes, she looked so defeated, so tired and helpless. His guilty emotions were fueled by the look of Persephones deteriorating body, laying there, trembling on the bed in front of him. As soon as the door closed behind Madam Pomfrey Sirius allowed the tears to fall for his beloved one. He would not release her hand from his sturdy grip and through the tears he kissed her fingers lovingly, delicately, believing that any touch could injure her. Madam Pomfrey said she would most likely not wake until tomorrow morning but Sirius didn't care, he would stay with her all night. No matter how many times Remus came in and begged him to come eat something or get some rest, Sirius just sat protectively, on a chair facing the bed. Dumbledore would come next afternoon to check on her, Sirius couldn't decide whether he was looking forward to seeing him or not.

&&&&&&&&&&&&

At dawn the next morning Madam Pomfrey arrived again with another potion to give Persephone. Remus led her upstairs and the pair found Sirius asleep in the chair, not 3 feet away from her, his hand still wrapped around hers, Remus smiled and went to wake his friend as the nurse got her things ready. Sirius woke with a start and quickly rose to assist Madam Pomfrey. Lupin sat on the edge of the bed and grabbed her hand as the other individuals came to the four poster, Sirius went to the opposite side and held her while the long, sharp and sinister looking needle was shoved past her thin skin into the frail arm underneath. Persephone whimpered and all of sudden she coughed, then gasped and sat up in the bed, this action seemed to have drained much of her energy and grabbing her head with one hand she fell back onto the soft pillows. Her eyes were wide open and attentive, but their steely gray color was now dull and uninspiring, as she looked around the stuffy room she slowly registered the other people there. First was Madam Pomfrey, who stood over her holding some device and asking her questions. She tried to respond but her voice wasn't strong,

"Persephone can you hear me? Give us some sign." She coughed again and replied a feeble, "Yes." The other 2 people in the room let out a sigh of relief and Persephone looked to the man holding her hand. He had aged dramatically and he had many more gray hairs but it was undeniably the kind face of Remus Lupin, he smiled his wide smile and glanced at someone to her left. Turning her head she saw the characteristic shaggy dark hair that belonged to Sirius, he had a sad smile upon his handsome face as he looked down at her, running his fingers through her still dirty hair. Remus motioned to Madam Pomfrey and the 2 left the room to "Give them a few minutes" and Sirius lay down next to her and wrapped her into a tight embrace. For 14 years she had wavered between being angry at Sirius and missing him with intense desperation, now that she was finally with him, her anger was gone in a flash and she allowed herself to melt into his warmth and comfort.

Sirius held onto her for dear life, as if he was trying to make up for the past 14 years they had been apart, his hold never loosened. The couple remained like this, quiet and still, wrapped up in each other until Madam Pomfrey came back in and told Sirius to go downstairs and eat something so that she could give Persephone a thorough checkup. It took some bribing to get him to do it but he relented and soon left the room and went down to the kitchen. Remus would have thought him to be jubilant but somehow he was even sadder after he left the room where reality had been suspended for brief few minutes.

The cavernous kitchen was aglow with the fireplace burning strongly and Remus sat at the long table, a bowl of steaming soup already sitting next to him, ready for his friend. Sirius casually walked to the table and sat down, drinking the soup in minutes. The Auror and the werewolf glanced at each other and they registered Sirius change in behavior. Mad-Eye began telling stories about his days as an Auror and it seemed to Remus that Sirius had finally understood that things in their lives could not go back to the way they were. He admired Sirius for his optimism but the fugitive had never really grown up and learned this lesson. Any other time in their lives he would have been more than willing to help his friend with this painful truth but he realized that they were sitting in a dark wizards house with 2 convicted felons, a crazy old Auror and a werewolf and the fact that this was all happening during a silent war with the most evil wizard of all time.

Remus just bent his head and continued eating, wanting to dissapear into the background of this whole struggle.

&&&&&&&&&&&&

Dumbledore arrived that afternoon, exactly as he said he would and without hesitation he headed upstairs to Persephones room. Sirius, once again being kicked out went to feed Buckbeak and Dumbledore was left alone with the patient. He was pleased with her improvement and glad to see that she was up, Sirius had not left her side since breakfast earlier on, Dumbledore sensed that not much had been said but he had known that there was sure to be unease between the 2 of them. He just prayed that the loyalty they held to each other would help them through it. He pushed that aside, Dumbledore had to talk to her alone, settle some issues he was sure she had.

When Sirius left the bedroom, Dumbledore crossed over to the side of her four poster and pulled up a chair. There were no warm words of welcome, no smile for him, in fact she looked indifferent.

"What is it now Dumbledore? Here to spin some fantastic tale of why I was abandoned for 14 years? An innocent witch stuck inside Azkaban? But all can be made right with one of Dumbledores meticulously planned stories. Oh," she said with feigned enthusiasm, "Is it because you were to busy running your precious school to take the time out to free the devoted innocents?"

For someone who had just come out of a coma she spoke with force and he could tell this wasn't going to be easy. She was still so young in many ways that he doubted she would understand in the near future why he had done the things he did, if she ever did understand. All she could see was her own pain, her own misery and he understood that. She was only 20 or 21 when she went to prison, she had spent all of her adult years contained in a stone box, but regardless he felt he had to explain his actions somehow.

"Persephone I am going to defend my actions and I ask that you do not interrupt me until I am finished." Persephone scoffed but gave a curt nod of agreement.

"Good, well when you and Sirius were put into jail no one knew that Peter was alive, let alone that he was the one who had betrayed us. I did not learn any of this until Sirius escaped and was able to tell me what really happened, that wasn't until a year ago, I tried then to free you but the prison board wouldn't budge. I didn't want to free you so that you could be hunted like Sirius is, I would never wish that upon you, so I had to wait for an opportunity where you could be released, not broken out. I didn't get such an opportunity until a few days ago, as soon as I got it, I arranged to go to Azkaban and get you transportation back here. I apologize but I'm at a loss as to what else I could have done." Persephone wanted to be angry still, but she couldn't help trusting him, and his explanation seemed to make sense. She hated herself for thinking that. She was still mad but it was only going to hurt her to stay angry at him, after all he still came for her. That had to mean something didn't it? For the next half hour the pair talked about her condition and the recent news of Voldemorts return to power. Persephone scowled at the news but made no fervent remarks, it seemed to Dumbledore as though she wanted nothing to do with the whole situation, he couldn't blame her for that, no one did.

When Dumbledore finally did depart he was loathing himself once more, knowing he would have to break the news to her that she must go back, back to Voldemort and the Death Eaters. But for now he would let her have a few days with Sirius with nothing hanging over their heads, contrary to popular belief he did care about these people, they were the closest thing to a family he had.

&&&&&&&&&&&&

That night Sirius came into Persephones bedroom and got her out of bed. He had drawn a bath for her to eradicate 14 years of dirt and grime from her skin and bones frame. Stripping her down he lifted her into the steaming tub and tried with much difficulty to stay focused on getting her cleaned up. He felt strange, although he wanted to touch her, to hold her, he couldn't bring himself to do it, after all these years she was a stranger to him. Persephone felt the same way, they had spent all day together after Dumbledores visit, just laying there staring into each others eyes but something had just been…awkward. They weren't the same people anymore, those years in Azkaban had hardened them. Sirius's being on the run, attacked by Dementors and constant fear of capture had aggravated him. He was a much angrier person than she had known, always a passionate person it was now channeled differently and she wasn't quite sure what to think of him anymore. And Sirius in turn could see the subtle changes in her character. Although the first thing a person would notice was her bone thin frame Sirius could see her eyes, once so filled with energy and zest for life were sunken and sorrowful. Her jubilant personality was gone, she was filled with pain and regret. Her fiery personality had now become apathetic and cold.

"Who were these people?" Sirius thought to himself as he helped her out of the tub. Remnants of lives once so intense and proud. They were strong people by nature but Azkaban finally broke them after all these years, hard as they might try they couldn't fight it anymore. They were too tired. Sirius rubbed her dry and gave her a robe outside of the claw footed tub, walking on her own back to the bed she lay down and Sirius kissed her goodnight. On the forehead.

&&&&&&&&

Persephone was almost at full strength and she had been called to the school for a complete check up (more to test her stamina then anything else) Borrowing Sirius's wand and some clothes from Remus (a pair of loosely fitting black slacks and an oversize sweater) she apparated with much difficulty into the town of Hogsmeade. Entering the village she squinted at the sunlight, even though it was a cloudy day her eyes had not yet grown reaccustomed to the light, she pulled on a pair of old sunglasses and trudged up the long walk. She found it much more difficult than ever before to climb it and the wide open space almost made her nervous but she knew how Dumbledores mind worked. Constant tests, and she never lost her stubborness, she would pass them all. Feeling winded she found her way to the hospital wing to be greeted by an ecstatic looking Madam Pomfrey and a grave Albus Dumbledore.

She sat down on a bed as Madam Pomfrey gave her numerous potions and Dumbledore briefed her on all the news for the order, she just listened and nodded until he came to her assignment,

"Persephone, Severus has returned to his role inside Voldemorts ranks and I am ordering you to join him." Whatever potion she had in her hand went flying into the air as she stood, her freshly cut hair swirling around her shoulders. Her indifferent feelings had just died with that little sentence, her anger was swelling.

"How dare you?"

"Now Persephone calm down. What did you expect? We need you in there." Persephones chest heaved while Madam Pomfrey was feebly attempting to get her to sit back down. She replied, softly, once again defeated,

"Is that why you got me out? Please just tell me the truth for once."

Dumbledore sighed and replied, " No, it is not the only reason. But if you want honesty it was a defining factor, you are the only person who can get that close to him. We need you to do this."

"We?" she said mockingly, "I never needed anything from you besides your complete trust, which, you failed to deliver." she sat on the bed and placed her head in her hands, "But I suppose I have no choice?" she waited for some kind of reply that never came. She sighed and finished the potions that she was handed. She hated Dumbledore more than anything in the world right now, more than that sicko Coben, more than the people who had put her away and even more than Lord Voldemort himself. When she walked back through the door of 12 Grimmauld Place she told Remus, "I think we might all be fighting the wrong dark lord." Sirius had locked himself in his mothers bedroom with Buckbeak so Persephone retired to her room and closed the door, cursing the darkness.

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The next day the houses few occupants were busy preparing for the Weasley horde to arrive, luckily the house was large enough to accomadate the family and everyone else comfortably. Buckbeak even got to keep his own room. Persephone and Sirius were put together until Harry arrived, when she would move out until he left again. That had been something else she and Dumbledore had chatted about yesterday, one of the few things she agreed with was that Harry didn't need to know who she was or get attached to her in any way. He had been through so much already and they didn't think it was fair to have him become attached to someone else in a dangerous position. If he didn't know her, he couldn't lose her. When the house was prepared Persephone again borrowed the clothes and wand and headed off to do some shopping, she needed clothes and most importantly a wand.

Her first stop was Diagon Alley, with its bustling shops and brightly dressed wizards running to and fro she felt elated, somehow, she was getting back her life. She retrieved her money from Gringotts and headed straight to Ollivanders. The shop was a new experience to her, it looked disorganized and the dust was overpowering her senses. She had always remembered buying her first wand with fondness in America but this was different entirely. She glanced around the shop at the numerous boxes and knickknacks that lined the counter. She heard something stirring behind the shelf in front of her and an old man with wild hair jumped out in front of her with an ill-mannered greeting of "Who are you?" Persephone merely stated her name before the man jumped down and began to measure her for a wand. She stood still at the front of the shop while he looked through the numerous shelves in back, the tape fell and he was back in seconds holding several boxes. He motioned her forward and handed her the first box but she didn't take it, instead she glimpsed at the third box in the row, Ollivander saw her look and immediately whipped the first box away and handed her number 3.

"13 inches, Birch wood with a core of dragon heartstring."

Persephone took the wand out and held it in her right hand, there was no warmth in her arm, instead their was a scorching heat and she felt the power flood into her, filling her to the brink. The man nodded and she gave it a wave, fire erupted from the end of the wand in a great burst and Ollivander jumped back. Persephone smiled a true smile and handed the wand back to the shopkeeper to wrap up for her, she paid for her new possesion and left the shop, quickly pocketing the treasure she had just purchased. Leaving Diagon alley she went to buy some clothes and returned to Grimmauld Place.

When she walked through the door she heard the voices of children yelling about something and Molly Weasley scolding them in the kitchen, placing her bags on the steps she walked through the door of the kitchen to see the plump Mrs. Weasley holding a spatula to 2 boys identical faces. She clearly wasn't happy about something they had done. As soon as she entered Molly stopped hollering and ushered the boys out and giving Persephone a binding hug, Arthur had been reading his newspaper and at the sight of her he rose and walked towards his wife. Persephone finally detached herself and shook hands with Arthur. The couple were beaming and Persephone couldn't help but smile at her old friends, they said a hurried hello before the children came running in for dinner. Persephone decided to put her things upstairs before they all ate so she quickly left the room, taking the steps 2 at a time (those potions really worked wonders) she soon found herself on the landing outside of hers and Sirius's room. She opened the door and went to place her things upon a table in the corner, she could hear Sirius was in the shower. Persephone decided to change into some of her new things before heading down to dinner, she couldn't really call attention to herself in front of the kids but she didn't have to constantly wear Remus's old clothes. The shower clicked off right when she was pulling a new shirt on and Sirius came out of the bathroom wearing nothing but a towel around his slender waist. She didn't turn but he came to her anyway. She could feel him behind her, his warm breath on the back of her neck, his wet hand grabbed her arm and he leaned into the back of her head. Although they were alone in the room he whispered,

"Im so sorry." His voice was full of regret and sorrow, "If I had known you were there I would never have left without you." He was talking, of course, about his solo escape from Azkaban. She relaxed in his grip,

"Oh Sirius don't blame yourself. This whole," she hesitated, "Situation, is as much my fault as anyone elses." He shook his head, his wet hair tickling the back of hers.

"No, I shouldn't have left, you asked me not to go. This was my fault from the beginning." His voice was cracking, she allowed herself to lean her head on his shoulder, she sighed, "Whats important is that we're here together now."

"But for how long? How long is it going to be before Dumbledore sends you back?" Persephone breathed in heavily, due to their recent awkwardness with each other she hadn't told him of her chat with Dumbledore yesterday.

"2 days." she replied relunctantly.

Sirius's head violently jerked up.

"What?"

**To be continued…**

**Next time…**

The couple talk about Persephones assignment and because of the circumstances they overcome their awkward feelings. Yay!

Disclaimer: I aint repeatin it. Check prologue.


	5. Return of a Spy

**Review Responses**

The Great and Powerful Oz- Im glad you hate Dumbledore, he kinda plays the villain to Order members for a while- glad you caught on you smarty pants! And yes, smut there is but she can still meet the Pottermister- Heh heh, I just said PotterMister.

Kurama Forever- Thanks for the review (yet again) and so glad that you like the story! Please keep reading!

Satan in a biscuit- k we are going to try this… I C-A-N-T S-P-E-L-L, marygoo mare goon? Something whatever. And the whole point of the bathtub scene was totally wasted on you. The point was to stick them in a very sexual situation but because of whats happened to them its just…not anymore. Duh And ummm… YAY FOR BADASS GENA!

**Chapter 5- Unfinished Business**

That morning, miles away in an old Muggle house a rat faced man could be seen scurrying around carrying numerous items to and fro for his greedy master and followers. It had been only a few weeks since Peter Pettigrew had helped his master rise again, the evidence of his masters affection shown on his ethereal glowing white hand, Peter felt invincible with this weapon, as if he could do anything in the world. The only problem was, Peter was weak in every other aspect of his pathetic little life. He was a coward of a traitor and he knew it, he just didn't care, his master would protect him from his old friends. Pettigrew was terrified of the thought that one day Remus would find him, or worse, Sirius or Harry. So he lived his miserable existence, cooking and cleaning for the important Death Eaters just to survive, or just to be part of something, no one could ever tell.

On this day Peter was bustling around the kitchen preparing breakfast for his Lord when the bell rang and he, ever obedient (and scared shitless) literally ran upstairs to answer the call. Lord Voldemort was sitting in a throne like chair facing a grand fireplace, he was talking to another man Peter was terrifyingly afraid of, a greasy haired, hook nosed man with cold black eyes and long sinister fingers. Peter tread the side of the room slowly, bowing when he reached the side of his masters chair. He caught a snippet of conversation,

"Severus, if she indeed is out I want her back with me immediately. No more waiting, I've waited for her for all these years and she doesn't even have the decency to come to me the second her sentence is up? I want her here in 2 days, no later, that way she can have her time to get prepared for me. Is that understood?" He said devilishly.

Severus bowed low, "It will be done My Lord." When he raised he head he practically hissed at the vision of Pettigrew, groveling at the arm of the magnificent chair. Voldemorts red eyes darted next to him to see the sniveling worm crouched on the floor, he ushered Snape out with a wave of his hand and Severus bowed himself from the room. Voldemort pompously turned his head towards Peter,

"Well you heard, she's coming back. And this is not an excuse for you to stare at her all day and make your little whimpering noises when you listen at the door of my chambers during her visits. I find it rather distracting, it will not be discussed again. After you bring me my breakfast go and make my room right for her. You are dismissed." Peter stumbled from the room and down the servants staircase back to the kitchen. As he put the finishing touches on Voldemorts breakfast he was shaking with a sick anticipation, the bell rang for him again. His few moments of being needed.

&&&&&&&&&&&&

Back at Grimmauld Place Persephone sat down at the long Black family table and took a serving of Mollys fabulous lasagna. She would always remember it as the most uncomfortable dinner of her life because Sirius arrived a few minutes after her and they snuck glances at each other all night. She wasn't quite sure how long she had to stay to make her dinnertime look natural, but she could tell Molly sensed her desperation to leave because she was fighting her first instinct of shoving as many plateloads of food down her throat that she could. But as soon as Sirius left the table Persephone was in agony trying to find an inconspicuous time to leave. She was finding trouble because the Weasley children were such an involving bunch, the twins, Fred and George were keen to tell her about their up and coming business and wouldn't let her go. She had a feeling it might also have had something to do with George staring at her chest and his brother catching sneaky glances at her backside. But lucky for her, the boys also had an extremely short attention span that caused them to get into an intense debate with their mother about their shop, Persephone slipped away quickly and ran upstairs as fast as her legs would take her.

She and Sirius had only had a rushed conversation before being called down to dinner and she felt that her hasty explanation deserved a little more. She opened the door and slipped inside, locking it quickly, she sensed him there, rather than seeing him. A candle was burning on a table in the corner and she could just barely make out an outline of him standing in front of the window. She spoke,

"Sirius-" But something in the way he turned and looked at her made her stop, his eyes were intense and remorseful and he stared straight at her, seeing her as only he could. He moved away from the window,

"I don't want to talk about it, we can fight and be mad but that bastards going to make you go anyway. I would rather spend the next couple of days together happy, rather than angry and on edge with one another. I know its better to give in then fight with you, and I learned my lesson about not listening to you." He said with a playful smile, she laughed and the two of them, for the first time in 14 years, truly looked at each other. He was still so goodhearted and loyal and she was still strong and passionate. They were still perfect. Sirius, without warning, covered the distance between them and grabbed her, pulling her surprised but willing body into a long deserved kiss.

She ran her hands all over him, not being able to soak up enough at once, and he held her tightly, afraid that if he let her go they would be separated again. He lifted her onto the dresser along the wall, never losing the power of the kiss and removed her shirt. Her body was still sick and she was so thin but Sirius didn't care, he needed her to be with him. She instinctively reached to cover the mark upon her arm, ashamed of it for so many years, Sirius smiled and grabbed her hands, moving them somewhere where he was happier with. When they eventually made it to the bed, they were trembling and Persephone had tears welled in her eyes, how they had missed one another.

It would seem to them that all the pain they had experienced was washed away in that night together, the next day they found it difficult to hide their happiness from the houses underage occupants, who would surely tell Harry of Sirius' friend the moment they saw him. Whatever chance they got the 2 of them would retreat to a hidden spot until they were sure they would be missed, Sirius' cue to return to the cleaning efforts. Always with a new spring in his step.

Dumbledore arrived that night and went over the details of her reunion with Voldemort the next day, Sirius gruffly exited the room at the sight of Dumbledore. Knowing that if he stayed he would only end up in a row with Dumbledore, somewhere that no one wanted to end up. Persephone listened solemnly while Dumbledore lectured on about the rules and if she got into trouble, she knew all this already. Why was he repeating it?

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The morning of her reunion with Voldemort dawned bright and clear, there was a chill in the air as Persephone disentangled herself from Sirius arms and went to dress. She removed the Death Eater robes that Snape had brought for her and slowly pulled them on, she shoved the mask into her oversize belt. Before leaving, she bent down and kissed Sirius goodbye on his cheek, the stubble tickling her skin. She left Grimmauld Place quietly and with no farewell party, almost as if she was becoming a ghost, or something that was never brought up in polite conversation. She pulled on her hood and apparated to a prearranged meeting place; a deserted alley that seemed as though its only inhabitants were bums and cats digging through the garbage. She only waited there in the rotten smelling concrete passageway for a few minutes before a tall, slender figure turned into the alley and headed straight towards her. They gave her the hand signal, she donned her mask and fell into step next to them, the figure grabbed her arm and the two of them felt the familiar sense of apparation pushing in on them. Persephone let go of the others arm as they came out into a beautiful but forgotten looking muggle mansion. The Death Eater next to her removed her mask and Persephone smiled,

"Hello Narcissa, how are you?" The pale witch gave an arrogant shake of her brilliant blonde mane,

"Dissapointed that I am running the irrelevant errand of fetching you. Oh by the way, how was prison?" Narcissa was trying to bait her, it wouldn't work.

"Why don't you ask your sister?" Persephone replied cooly, before Narcissa could respond a newly recruited Death Eater stepped out onto the landing and called down to Persephone to come upstairs. She walked away without and word and as she climbed she observed the sophistication of the monstrous house. The manor was old but undeniably elegant and everything from the carpet to the painting just emanated wealth and power. Portraits lined the hallways, scenes of muggles riding on horses and fighting in their wars. From looking out the windows she could tell the were sitting on a hill over a small village, she couldn't judge what part of the country they were in, not that it would have mattered. Voldemort surely would have had a secret keeper by now.

She was told to wait outside the ornate golden doors at the end of a hallway with stunning mahogany wood floors, while she waited, Persephone studied a portrait of a family that was hanging in shreds. The depiction had what was once the proud faces of a father, mother and their handsome son but now, the face of the father looked as though someone had slashed at it with a knife and she could see the cut up wall behind his now non-existant face. The portrait was entitled, "The Master Riddles," Persephone found the name rather funny but the painting was not, the slashed face was eeiry and it gave her the chills. The woman and child looked like caricatures, the perfect trophy family. The women was beautiful in a ordinary kind of way, long blonde hair and large breasts, nothing about her made Persephone think that she had been a good person, or even remotely kind. The type of person that was more interested in how their overdone make up looked than if the entire world was bathed in darkness. The son was much the same, hair like his father (or atleast she thought so, she couldn't really tell from the slashed picture) and he had a conceited smile upon his young face. The pair looked vapid and ill mannered, the "highest class" at its absolute lowest.

Persephone scoffed and a sudden realization hit her, the slashed man was Voldemorts father, and the women and boy were his second family. Dumbledore had told her about the tragic demise of his mother at the orphanage and now she could see why Voldemort would hate the man so much, he had skipped over them for another family. One that could be deamed as socially acceptable, against her better judgement, Persephone felt something close to pity rearing inside of her body. She was interrupted in her train of thought when none other than Peter Pettigrew stepped out of the golden doors and walked towards her.

She was surprised at herself. Always proud of her ability to detach from her feeling when on a job she found it arduous to try and keep herself from lashing out and giving him what he deserved, a long and painful death. If she was nervous, it was no match for what Peter felt, he was terrified that she was still working for the other side and would kill him. Well, one out of 2 was right. Persephone made sure her mask was on correctly and followed a forever trembling Peter Pettigrew through the horrific golden doors.

Sunlight streamed in through the large windows on the side of the room and reflected off the polished floors, giving the room an unnaturally bright glow, it was offsetting after being in the dark hallway. Peter quickly closed the doors behind her and all at once Voldemort was behind her, his sweaty palms covering her eyes with a bandana. Well, he certainly wasn't nervous now was he? Persephone fought the urge to throw up.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

She arrived back at Grimmauld Place 9 hours later. Exhausted and loathing herself, Sirius met her at the door, ever loyal, he waited patiently while she took a long cold shower. They headed down to the Order meeting together while the children cleaned out the papers from Mr. Black's office desk.

When she walked through the doors she was greeted with a roar from the veteran Order members, so basically, everyone who hadn't been killed or tortured into insanity. Mad Eye Moody gave her a very atypical hug, after the day she had had, she didn't want anyone to touch her, but she returned every hug she was given and put on the biggest smile she could manage. Sirius hated seeing her like that, the most real person he had ever met had to spend her life forced into being fake, it made him miserable for her. The meeting was straightforward, Snape and Persephone gave their reports on whatever information they had (Snapes report was a lot longer than Persephones, which she hated) and Dumbledore gave out instructions for the upcoming weeks. But then Dumbledore asked for volunteers, to go and get Harry in 1 week from his aunt and uncles house. Persephone knew it would be pointless to try and volunteer but she need'nt have worried, Remus, Mad Eye and many, many others volunteered for the trip. Feeling a bit depressed she escaped to the kitchen to grab something to eat fast so she could get upstairs, she didn't really feel like sitting down with everyone tonight.

Sirius noticed her leave and started after her but Dumbledore caught him saying that he needed to speak with Persephone about something important and that he should just wait.

"Absolutly not. I have left plenty of times, if you want to talk to her you can talk to me too." Dumbledore was surprised by his sudden assurance and allowed Sirius to lead the way, having him sit in on this conversation was a small price to pay for the poor man to think he had won some battle. Dumbledore knocked on the door and without waiting for a reply walked right in to see Persephone in the corner with her sleeve half way up her arm. She was staring intently at the Dark Mark on her forearm, slowly running her fingers over it; Sirius was sick to see that it was glowing, making the skull even more grotesque than before. She jumped out of the chair, pulling her sleeve down she switched on the light and greeted Dumbledore in the most polite way she could manage. She still wasn't happy with him, especially after today. He came across the room and sat down on an armchair by the window, Sirius came and sat with Persephone on the small loveseat in the corner.

"Well, I could sense you weren't telling us everything tonight at the meeting. Is there anything you would like to say now?" He asked in a belittling voice, Persephone was annoyed,

"No Dumbledore, the only thing I havent told you is the location, which as you know, I cant tell you." She refrained telling him about Peter still being around, but he knew anyway.

"And what about your old friend Wormtail? Is he still scurrying about people more powerful then he?"

Persephone made a noise in between a snicker and a sigh, "Yes of course, and too damn bad that you knew that. I was so looking forward to killing him without your rules butting in." Dumbledore rose from the chair and to pace around the room,

"If you kill him now your entire mission goes down the drain." This statement made Persephone angrier than ever, he was telling this to her as though she was a petulant child, had she not infiltrated Voldemort and his cronies without incidence before? Trying to hold her temper she replied in a very dangerous voice,

"Dumbledore, you do your job and I will do mine."

"Yes but you must listen to reason Per-"

"With all do respect, you have asked me to do a job and I will do whatever is necessary to keep that job safe and if killing a sniveling piece of filth like that would help secure it, then so be it." She paused, "But I am not dumb, I have no reason to kill him right now. He is too useful to kill at this moment and besides," she added with a wicked smile, "It will be Sirius' pleasure to end his life, not mine." Persephone was one of the few people that when talked to, could end a fight and win, without you even realizing what had just happened. Dumbledore knew this and said good night to the couple.

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Sirius and Persephone had 2 days of bliss before she was called upon for her first mission as a Death Eater, it was simple enough, seeing as how the Dark Lord didn't want his girlfriend getting injured or arrested again. Persephones mission was to collect the information on all other Death Eaters in Azkaban, simple because she was to report to the Ministry and the record keeper to discuss her release from prison anyway. All she had to do was freeze him and his clock during the meeting, take a peek at his papers and copy the information, it was childs play. When Persephone went to drop off the information at the Riddle Manor later on that afternoon, Peter was the only person there to take it from her. He was twitching his nose and smiling an eager smile, his wrinkled and wart filled face crunched in a disgusting form. He greedily took the packet from her and asked her to wait inside for a package from the Dark Lord.

When he came down with the yellow envelope Persephone knew she could easily kill him then and there. Make the rug come undone on the stairs, have one of the suits of armor fall on top of him, or just use Avada Kedavra. She toyed with these thoughts but decided against it, just thinking of Dumbledores disapproving glare made her livid, so she figured she would just restrain and avoid it.

How people love their little fantasies.

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The day of Harrys arrival came and Persephone was officially moving into Remus' house for the remainder of the summer, her things were packed and she was leaving as soon as the orders meeting was over. She and Sirius sat together, their knees touching underneath the table, while they listened to a report from Sirius' cousin Tonks on security measures the Ministry was or was not taking in light of recent events. Persephone wasn't ashamed to admit that she kind of enjoyed Dumbledores public persecution, it was about time. Tonks finished her report and the entire order suddenly heard the familiar screeching of Mrs. Blacks portrait in the entrance hall.

"FILTH! BLOOD TRAITORS- BESMIRCHERS OF MY FATHERS HOUSE!"

Sirius gave an exasperated sigh, "Oh Jesus there she goes again." He stood and raced from the room, everyone could hear his angry shouts being yelled back at the fuming portrait,

"Shut up you old hag!"

"MY OWN FLESH AND BLOOD! BRINGER OF MUDBLOOD FILTH!" And then she was quiet, Sirius and someone else had managed to close the curtains over her large and unmovable face. The order members didn't dare laugh, not in front of Persephone, although she was fighting the urge also. Sirius stomped back inside the room and announced that Harry and his escort had just arrived, he then threw himself back into his chair.

Persephone found it next to impossible to concentrate once she knew her godson was upstairs, she was fidgeting and anxious, she might not have been able to get to know him, but she was still able to meet him. When the Order meeting finally adjourned after what seemed like hours Persephone jumped up and went to head directly to the entrance hall but she was blocked by Dumbledore.

"I thought we had discussed this. We're not causing him anymore heartache." Persephone rolled her eyes,

"Im not going to throw my arms around him and tell him about his parents wedding and the times we babysat when he was little. But your not going to stop me from seeing him, you owe me that much." Dumbledore hesitated and Persephone continued, "Dumbledore you have 2 options, you can either step aside now or do it after I make a big scene and call everyones attention." She smiled pleasantly.

Dumbledore stepped aside and Persephone beamed as she walked with the throng of Order Members towards the front doors. She heard what had to be stampeding elephants barreling down the stairs, but it was only the Weasley children, Hermione Granger and a young boy that Persephone would have sworn was James Potter. He was the perfect replica of his father, the wild jet black hair and lanky but strong looking body. When he hit the landing Persephone walked up to him allowed herself to be introduced by Remus,

"Harry, this is Persephone Parker, a current Order Member. Persephone this is, as I'm sure you can see, Harry Potter." She extended her hand and Harry shook it, when he looked up at her she had to catch her breath. His eyes were the most brilliant shade of green and an exact reproduction of Lily's eyes, she felt as though she was looking into her best friends eyes for the first time in 14 years.

"Its nice to meet you." He mumbled before following his friend Ronald into the kitchen for dinner, Remus looked at her apologetically but she just grinned. She would have been surprised if he had turned out as a perfectly normal child after what he had been through in his short lifetime. Persephone picked up her bags and gave Sirius a quick and covert kiss before heading off to Remus's house.

**To Be Continued….**

Next time: Cant tell! Any summary I try gives too much away!

Disclaimer: See chapter 1.


	6. Another Prison Cell

**Review Responses**

Kurama Forever- I feel so happy that I have like, a loyal reviewer. I just said "like" and I meant to say it enough that I wrote it. Wow, I guess there goes my loyal reviewer.

Peyton M A R E I G U N- ha ha! Take that! And yes I love that line too, one of my faves. So glad that you keep reading!

The Great and Powerful OZ- Thanks for the review luv!

**Chapter 6: Another Prison Cell**

_Sirius POV_

When Harry left at the end of the summer to return to school I had figured that it meant Persephone would be coming back to me, but Voldemort had now taken to visiting her at Remus's house and she had been forbidden to come back to live here. Although I hated admitting it, it was probably the only reasonable thing to do, the slightest suspicion from Voldemort and she could be killed. Then where would we be?

Remus had been staying here at Grimmauld Place, he said it was just to be kept in touch with the Order, I knew better. He wanted to keep me company, and I was grateful to him but with his work and Persephone constantly being away, the loneliness was eating me up inside. She came by whenever she could, and those nights were magnificent together, passionate and powerful but I could sense there was something wrong. Something, not quite right. The woman I had loved all those years ago was all but gone, whatever Azkaban hadn't managed to beat out of her the Death Eaters were finishing up. She would tell me of the horrifying things she saw on a daily basis, I saw in her an overwhelming desire to run but a steady hand that kept her there in his grip. She was making mistakes and her occlumencey was getting weaker, she was losing focus. I knew it was because of me, I was terrified that she would let him see and it would all be over. Dumbledore informed me that she had almost slipped in front of him twice and Snape knew that certain Death Eaters were questioning her loyalty. Persephone was in trouble and she needed help. I had to do something to aid her, to bring back the Persephone I had once loved, and there was only one thing to do.

Since I was convicted felon being hunted down by the ministry, my work for the Order was non-existent, I gave them headquarters, and then cleaned it. My days were now spent sitting around the lonely house with only my mothers portrait for company and Kreacher sneering at me and breathing down my throat, it was enough to drive anyone into madness, and I could feel the insanity rising in myself. At Christmas time I found a sick pleasure when Arthur Weasley was wounded, bringing everyone to Grimmauld Place for the holidays. I expressed these thoughts to Persephone during stolen moments together Christmas eve, I don't think I will ever understand if her look of horror was aimed at my sick thoughts or at my pathetic nature. Remus told me that it was only natural to be "irritable" as he called it when the woman I loved was with another and my days were spent inside a house I had once sworn to inherit and then burn to the ground. Well he was wrong, I wasn't irritable, I was angry. Angry at being trapped, at being kept away from the woman I loved, at being treated like a helpless child. I envied anyone that walked in or out of the front door and I was full of pride when I learned that Harry had started a secret Defense League at his school. I was even envious at the Weasley twins who had outright acts of rebellion up at Hogwarts with their mischief making. That was my low point, I was jealous of teenage boys and it was sickening.

Remus could see me slipping away from everyone and so he started campaigning to Dumbledore to let me go out and work. At first he would have none of it but when Harry's dreams turned towards me and caused him to run off to the ministry to face the Death Eaters and almost a certain demise, Dumbledore (quickly) granted me my wish. But it came with a terrible price. At first I was told to fake my own death, let someone knock me into the veil and be pronounced dead, these instructions were simple enough. I agreed to it with the full knowledge that Harry would have to believe me gone as well as Voldemort, I answered yes to keep him safe and the plan went off without a single problem.

Fighting in the Department of Mysteries I let a weak spell attempt by Bellatrix Lestrange knock me into the billowing curtains, I could hear Harry screaming and chasing after my cousin. His pain was agony to listen to, and I shook with desperation to help him from behind the curtain while I waited for someone to come help me out. Remus came and retrieved me when the coast was clear and I returned to Grimmauld Place to talk to Dumbledore about my new instructions. The headmaster showed up and delivered a piece of disturbing and infuriating news, I was to stop seeing Persephone, she had to believe me dead as well. At first I was indignant and screamed my protests but Dumbledore's forever serious old face was unfeeling and callous. I could not believe that he would do this to us, again, after all we went through he could be so heartless.

Dumbledore explained to me that if I was gone we wouldn't have to worry about my being used as a weapon against Persephone. I still yelled no and at one point I even drew my wand on him, screaming,

"You heartless bastard! What the hell good have you done us! Any of us?" In my emotionally unstable state I was easily overpowered by Remus and Mad Eye Moody, forced into a chair and had my wand ripped away from me. I would never have fallen apart like that in front of Dumbledore before but I had stopped caring, my world was deteriorating in front of me. I couldn't, no I wouldn't believe it. Remus sat with me while the other two men retreated into the kitchen, he was shaking with either fear or anger, perhaps a combination of both. He spoke, softly as a whisper,

"Sirius I don't like this either but what is best for her? Could you ever live with yourself if she was physically harmed because you couldn't bear to see her emotionally hurt?"

I shook my head, "Don't you think we're pushing this a little far? We weren't comfortable in the same room with one another for what seemed like forever. We have less than a year together and then I'm supposed to live this giant sham away from her? I wont lie to her like that."

"And you shouldn't have to but in these times we have to think of what's going to keep more people alive. She and Harry are major keys to defeating Voldemort and you are the only thing that stands in the way of them completing this undertaking." I shook my head in a solemn conquest, Remus said, "Don't worry my friend, I'll look after her."

I'm so sorry my love, what have I done?

&&&&&&&&&&&&&

_Normal POV_

A few hours after the attack on the Ministry, Persephone saw the Daily Prophets headline, "RETURN OF HE WHO MUST NOT BE NAMED!" And immediately rushed to the Riddle Manor to find the Death Eaters in a foul mood. Narcissa Malfoy was standing with her newly freed sister and her husband by the large fireplace, Bellatrix was the only person in the whole house who seemed to be smiling. Persephone came up to the little group and inquired about the days events, Lucius Malfoy answered gravely,

"That damn Potter kid escaped from the Ministry and now the entire Wizarding world officially knows that we're back." Persephone's insides swelled with happiness, they were one step closer to getting rid of Voldemort. She nodded somberly, turned towards Bellatrix and asked, "Why do you have a such a grin?"

Bellatrix gave a twisted smile and proudly proclaimed, "I killed one of Dumbledore's little lemmings!" Persephone's heart skipped a beat, "Who?" she asked as naturally as she could manage. It couldn't be Tonks? Not Remus? Oh please let them be safe, she knew Sirius was, he was at home in Grimmauld Place.

But Bellatrix loudly said, "Well it was none other than my dear cousin! Big bad Sirius Black! I actually managed to kill one of Dumbledore's dueling champions! Ha ha!" Persephone turned and quickly left the group, not caring if she blew her cover. As she ran she pleaded, _Let it be a trick, Let him be sitting in the kitchen with Remus. _ She apparated and was standing in front of the wizarding manor, trying to breathe, he had to be there, he just had to. Without bothering to knock or ring the bell Persephone burst through the front door and screamed out loud,

"Sirius! Sirius where are you!" But no reply came, only Remus, wordlessly stalking out of the kitchen at the end of the hallway and all was eerily silent.

"No, no please-" she begged, tears rushing to her face, "Remus tell me it isn't so. Tell me he's okay." But Remus just walked towards her, silent tears pouring down his tired face. Persephone collapsed to the ground, trembling and sobbing into her hands. Lupin sat down next to her and pulled her into his strong arms, rocking her back and forth doing his best to comfort her in this pain. She shook and completely let go, her anguish was so strong that Remus could not even think to move her. They stayed like this for what seemed like an eternity, Persephone's grief tearing into her like a rusty knife. This was worse than any curse she had ever experienced, worse than Voldermort's hands on her body, the cruciatus curse for a lifetime would have been better than this misery. She finally managed to speak aloud one word.

"How?" her voice was shaky and weak, her entire body was limp against his and he still held onto her strongly. Persephone knew from Bellatrix but she couldn't believe it, Sirius would never have gone down so easily, she had to hear it from someone she trusted. Remus swallowed,

"Lestrange, hit him with a spell and he fell." Lupin paused, "He fell into a veil that Dumbledore says no one can escape from. I am so sorry Persephone." Her voice grew angry at the mention of his name,

"Dumbledore," she growled, "Where the hell was he?" At that moment the object of their discussion walked in the front door, flanked by Alastor Moody, who after Sirius' attempt at cursing Dumbledore had taken to following his friend around as a sort of body guard. Persephone, seeing him rose in a flash and pulled her wand, Remus grabbed her from behind. He knew that while Sirius became careless in these times, Persephone grew more precise. Sirius was more likely to end up cursing a rug while she was likely to kill Dumbledore before anyone knew what had happened. Dumbledore bowed his head in shame and muttered two words,

"I'm sorry." Of all the words that Persephone could have heard at that moment those were the ones she needed the least. Let him yell, let him lecture, she would have rathered if he had sedated her. Anything would have been better than him acknowledging this pain, his remorse made it real to her. She dropped her wand and collapsed into Remus once more. Lupin saw Dumbledore walked towards her to put a hand on her shoulder, Remus yanked her away from him and yelled as loud as he could, "GET OUT OF HERE! GET OUT NOW! JUST LEAVE!" He was furious at everyone, furious at Dumbledore for coming up with this evil plan and furious at himself for taking part in it. Remus helped her upstairs, as far away from the headmaster as he could manage.

&&&&&&&&&&&&

During the next week Persephone became a recluse, hiding inside of Sirius's old room, sleeping constantly. It was the only way that she could stop hurting, if she dreamed about him (which she did often) she would yank herself out of her sleep and weep more. She would cry until she exhausted herself and no dreams could come, she was angry, lonely and miserable. Persephone wouldn't tolerate anyone but Lupin and then for only brief times, Dumbledore came once to talk to her and she had refused to see him, she cast numerous defensive spells around her room so he couldn't have gotten in if he had wanted to.

Everything tore her apart, this house was him so why wouldn't it? She could still smell him on the sheets, his clothes still hung in the closet. She laughed at herself, they weren't hanging, he never hung a piece of clothing in his life. But even that small laughter could bring more tears to her eyes, if Sirius had been there he would have made some comment about his lack of cleanliness that made her laugh and forget all about the mess in the closet. But no person could help her now, although sweet Lupin was trying desperately.

When Snape came by one afternoon to inform them about Voldemort's anger at her not being with him, Remus had rowed with him and told him to literally go and "Screw himself." Persephone thought that was interesting, seeing as how she had never heard Remus say anything of that nature before. She didn't go downstairs for Order Meetings and Lupin had a difficult time trying to get her to eat anything. Persephone appreciated his efforts but she felt that it was all in vain, what was she to do now? The only thing that kept her in Great Britain was Sirius and with him…she couldn't say it, with him, not here anymore she had no reason to stay. But where was she to go? She couldn't go back to America, her family was all dead, she wouldn't be going back to anything. But if she stayed here she would be forever forced into the life of some sort of sex slave for Voldemort. She couldn't live with that anymore, she refused to.

Two weeks after Sirius's "death" Persephone emerged from her haven, the full moon was upon them so Remus was unreachable. When she went downstairs to the kitchen she found Tonks sitting at the long wooden table, drinking a cup of steaming coffee. Persephone inhaled the aroma and went to make herself a cup, Tonks cut her off and told her to sit down while she went and poured her a cup. Persephone had wrapped herself in a large blanket, still wearing her sweats, her hair was a disgusting knot on the top of her head. Tonks set down the cup of brown liquid and sat across the table from the grieving woman, she breathed in heavily and asked, "Do you want to talk about it?" Persephone smiled,

"That's sweet but, you barely know me. You just want to be nice." Tonks shook her head,

"Your right, I don't know you that well but I understand what its like to lose someone. I know what its like to be in love and believe me," she paused, "I know what its like to want to kill Dumbledore sometimes." The pair gave solemn laughs and Persephone replied,

"I just, I'm feeling so lost. As if my entire world had finally been right side up only to get tossed around again and I have no where to go," she wiped a tear from her eye, " I really miss him." She cried harder now and Tonks came around the table to comfort her, wrapping her arms around the blanket she allowed Persephone to silently cry into her shoulder. "I mean, what do I do now?" Tonks let her go and Persephone grasped the cup of coffee before taking a deep steadying breath. Tonks responded,

"You know Persephone, I don't know what your going through and I'm not even going to try and pretend that I do but I do know what its like to have the person you love be inaccessible."

"What do you mean?" Persephone asked, taking a gulp of the scorching hot coffee. Tonks gave a sad smile,

" I am in love with someone who will not have me and all that I wish I could do, besides have him of course, is get away. Escape somewhere, as far away as possible."

"And what's keeping you?"

"I don't know. Loyalty? A sense of responsibility I guess."

Persephone scoffed, "Loyalty to who? Dumbledore?"

"Yes actually. I know that you will never forgive him for what he has put you through in your life and I don't know if you ever can forgive him but I do know that every decision he has ever made has been for a good intention."

"What about that whole not showing on time up at the Ministry?" Persephone said mockingly. Tonks smiled,

"I know in my heart that he tries, he does whatever he can to help us. I mean he gave up his chance at a normal family and a normal life and devoted himself completely to Voldemort's destruction. He works constantly to teach us and help us in this fight. I cant tell you what to do but I know that I would find a way NOT to hate him, find a way to look at the bigger picture." Persephone took another sip and looked into the fire, digesting Tonks's words.

&&&&&&&&&&

When Remus returned a few days later he discovered Persephone, cleaned up and walking around the house, when he questioned Tonks about her condition she gave a half grin.

"She still cries at night but at least she's back to eating and walking around." Remus clapped his hand on Tonks shoulder,

"Thanks for looking after her, you're a real good friend."

Tonks felt her own heart rip in two.

Remus climbed the stairs to Persephone's bedroom where she sat folding Sirius's clothes in the closet, her hands lingering over the fabric longer than they would have normally. She was still breaking apart inside but she was accepting the lie they had told her, Remus was so ashamed of himself. He crossed the room and sat on the chair right next to her, she didn't acknowledge him but instead, just continued folding Sirius's shirts.

"So what's your plan?" He asked her.

She shrugged, "I don't know. The only person keeping me here is Harry and I cant even talk to him."

"Well, I might have found away around that." Remus replied.

Persephone finally put down the shirt and looked at Remus, "Oh really? And how did you manage that?"

" As you know everything comes with a price." Persephone shook her head in disgust, "If you mean go back to Voldemort than no."

"Not exactly go back to him. Go back for the rest of the summer and then bring up to him what a good idea it would be for you to teach at Hogwarts, plant it in his mind and when he agrees you live at the castle. You would be close to Harry and far from Voldemort, it's the only solution." Persephone sighed,

"So how much of this was Dumbledore's idea? A bribe to get me to go back to the Death Eaters? It sounds so like him.

Remus sighed, "Pretty Much the whole thing was his idea but Persephone, what else are you going to do? You said it yourself, the only thing keeping you here is Harry, so why not take this chance at getting to know him? I did when I worked there and besides if he's all you have here you really have no options." He said in a mock pathetic voice.

She replied, "Remus, of course I have you but I just…it left a hole in me that cant be filled." Remus smiled,

"Well I know a few guys who wouldn't mind filling it up." Persephone threw a shirt into his face, roughly.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Getting close to Voldemort again was much easier than Persephone would have thought, she used her new job at the school as an in and Voldemort was thrilled with her. Whenever Persephone was at Grimmauld Place she still locked herself away in hers and Sirius's old room and refused to see anyone. She was even now grieving but she had her good days and her bad ones. For instance, on the one month anniversary she didn't come out for 2 days, but everyone could hear her muffled sobs from outside the door.

A week before the beginning of term Persephone made an impulsive decision, she took her cloak from the closet and apparated to Riddle Manor unannounced and waited for her prey to come out of the house. The huntress hid in the shadows and followed the evil little git to the towns market, the idiot was actually going to buy groceries. This was too pathetic and way easier than it should have been, but she didn't care wither way. She stalked him during his shopping trip and when he was on the path back home she silently cast the Imperius curse, convincing him to take the hidden path through a tree covered path.

Peter veered off of the gravel road and slowly walked up the dirt path, completely unaware that he was being hunted down like some animal. Persephone saw her chance and moved quickly behind him, there was no fight, he screamed and dropped his bags in the dirt. He stood on his knees, Persephone kicked his shoulder with her boot, causing him to fall backwards against a large tree.

"Persephone?" He asked disbelievingly.

"Of course you idiot, you honestly thought I have been working for your side this whole time?"

Peter began to panic, "You will regret it if you kill me! The Dark Lord will take out his revenge on you!"

She gave him a sadistic grin, "You just don't get it do you? I have your master wrapped around my little finger and besides, you mean nothing to him." He trembled, hands covering his pleading face, she bent down getting as close as she could, "You know the only thing I do regret?" she paused as if waiting for him to reply, "Was that Sirius isn't around to do this." Peters eyes grew wide with realization and terror as she pulled out a muggle hunting knife and in cold blood, she efficiently slit his throat. His body shuddered for a moment, gave a sickening lurch and was still forever more. Persephone removed his wallet and took the money to make it look like he had been robbed my some muggles. Wiping the knife clean she apparated away from the lifeless body, feeling no remorse whatsoever.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The morning of September 1 arrived and Persephone sat in her bedroom, gazing out the window. She was to meet Voldemort later on for what he said would be a nice long goodbye, she was then to get to Hogwarts as inconspicuously as possible. She stayed in Grimmauld Place as long as she dared before going back to Riddle Manor, Voldemort would want her there as long as he could keep her.

His hands were digging into her supple flesh with urgency, Persephone moaned in pain but it only propelled him farther. Faster and faster he mercilessly drove into her, ripping her apart, she screamed and he took that as a good sign. For hours and hours he rode her, knowing that it would be some months until he saw her again, he was so thankful for her. After the tragic muggle murder of his personal servant she had suggested to him the name of a new recruit and he was working out perfectly as Voldemort's new lap dog. Persephone could almost feel herself tearing open and her skin was covered with a thin layer of sweat, this disgusting man above her groaning and kissing her, his red eyes boring into her flesh. When he finally released her it was a half an hour after she was supposed to be at Hogwarts.

It was raining at the castle and she ran to the doors, her bags flying along behind her. The entrance hall was deserted except for the house elves moving luggage, she could hear Dumbledore making a speech to the students in the Great Hall next to her. He had told her to make her entrance as subtle as possible but Persephone was tired of following his rules, so she instead decided to burst through the giant golden doors.

Dumbledore raised his head and a collective muttering went out across the dining tables, Persephone loudly pronounced, "So sorry I'm late Dumbledore. But the weather out there is just murder." Dumbledore scowled, he was still upset about Peters death, she didn't care. In reaction to her outburst coming inside she barely made out one students commentary,

"Whoa, that was so a Mad- Eyed Moody entrance." Persephone grinned underneath her hood.

**To Be Continued**

Next time: I may switch over and make this a "lets follow Harry around" type story like the books but I'm not sure yet. What do you guys think? It could go either way. So next time Persephone will teach her first class and learn more about Potter and his companions.


	7. Hogwarts New Professor

**Review Responses**

Peyton- Yes badass Gena struck again, and I love that line! I wrote that chapter so fast just cause I wanted to write it, is that weird? Probably

**Note: Something funky happened with the e-mail alerts so make sure that you didn't miss chapter six- because you know? This is 7. So oh yea**

**Also Note: In case you havent noticed, my "creative juices" have been running on high lately so enjoy it while it lasts, because there probably wont be a new chapter for a while. (And I have no definition of what a while is- 1 week-1 month? w/e)**

**Chapter 7: Hogwarts New Professor **

That night Persephone couldn't sleep, although the bed inside her quarters was comfortable and the fireplace was burning brightly she was restless. She had seen Harry at the opening feast tonight and he had been solemn, barely eating at his table with his friends, she had tried not to look too often but she couldn't stop. He looked so like his parents that she almost found it uncanny, that hair and those bright green eyes that she could see from across the hall kept showing in her mind whenever she lay her head down on the goose feather pillows. It was one a.m. and it was clear that she wasn't going to get to sleep anytime soon so she grabbed her cloak and headed outside to sit by the lake.

The castle was dark and cold, the stone walls looked sinister with the torches reflecting evil looking shadows off of them, she wrapped her cloak tightly around her and walked down the hallway. As she walked she thought back to the feast that night, Dumbledore had been livid with her but it was fantastic because he couldn't do anything about it in front of the students and she managed to sneak off before he could catch her afterwards. She smiled to herself as she thought about the look on the students faces when she blasted through the doors, sopping wet, she must have made quite the entrance because while she was staring at Harry she noticed many of the students staring at her. She found it a bit unnerving to tell the truth, many of the Slytherins looked and pointed, whispering things to their friends. Apparently Voldemort hadn't exactly kept this secret, Persephone let these thoughts carry her away until she reached the lakeside. She could see Hagrid's cabin in the distance, a little speck of light and warmth on the grounds and something else….was that? Harry?

Someone with dark shaggy hair and bright green eyes was standing on the threshold of Hagrid's cabin, they had just taken off what looked to be an invisibility cloak, the half giant opened the door and motioned him in and Persephone could see no more. So she wasn't the only one who was restless tonight? She sat by the lake a while longer, waiting to see if he would come back out but by 2:30 the lights were still burning brightly in the cabin so she got up and went back inside the castle. Persephone went upstairs to her quarters and found that a house elf had left her class schedule on the nightstand, she looked over it and saw that she had sixth years tomorrow morning and afternoon. (She had accepted anyone who wanted to learn, regardless of their test scores but the more advanced students came in the mornings) Suprisingly Dumbledore hadn't argued over this, it was a bit unconventional but due to these times she would have preferred anyone who cared to learn how to defend themselves to come and do it. Who cares about test scores? If they were dreadful they just needed more practice right? Anything to stop Voldemort, and if she couldn't do it then she would equip the next generation as best as she could. Thinking these thoughts Persephone fell into an uneasy sleep.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Harry's first day of classes dawned bright and warm, not quite how he was feeling inside. Ever since Sirius's death he had been angrier and liable to curse anyone in sight, Hermione and Ron still stood by him, although he could sense Hermione's patience was wearing down. What the hell did she know anyway? She didn't see him die did she?

The trio sat down for breakfast and McGonagall came down the row passing out schedules, the three of them had Defense Against The Dark Arts first this morning, not knowing anything about the new professor they ate their breakfast quickly and made their way across the castle. When they reached the corridor they saw a long line of students formed outside the doors.

"Whats going on?" Ron asked Lavender Brown.

"She hasn't said yet, she just been calling people in by their last names, nobody comes back out so we don't know yet. Amelia hasn't come back except to call in Justin and Justin went in about 2 minutes ago. Harry and his friends waited outside not long before Justin came out white faced, "Hermione Granger!" he called before quickly retreating back into the classroom. Hermione picked up her bag and her wand and headed inside, everyone tried to listen at the door but it was clear that some sort of sound charm had been put on it. Harry began to pace impatiently, this was annoying. Hermione did not come back for the longest time of anyone yet and when she did she simply called out, "Neville Longbottom!", her face was flushed but she had a big grin on her face. Harry kicked at the wall, the only reason Neville was in this class was because of him and Dumbledores Army, and now he had to wait in the hall for Neville to finish. Due to his grief, this made him angry. All the students were surprised when Neville came back only about 20 seconds later and called, "Draco Malfoy." Nevilles face had been flushed, but by embarrassment, not pride. Harry paced some more while they all waited for Malfoy to finish whatever they were doing, he was inside the longest of anyone before his blonde head stuck itself outside the door and called for Harry. He had had blood on his head and seemed to be trying not to cry.

Harry roughly grabbed his bag and went inside the door, his wand clutched tightly in his hand. Inside the familiar classroom Harry's new professor stood smiling coyly in her muggle outfit of jeans and a black t-shirt. The other students were sitting at their desks, expectant looks upon their faces. Hermione looked nervous and Draco Malfoy looked as though Christmas had come early, sick anticipation upon his pale face. The teachers hair was long and dark, but not menacing like Bellatrix Lestranges was, she had amazing grey eyes, and a tall strong body. Her face was ovular and her teeth were a brilliant shade of white with full lips to cover them. She wore no make up, but Harry doubted that it would have mattered, she would have been stunning regardless. Her smile turned into a welcoming one and she spoke in a powerful but feminine voice,

"No need to ask if you are Harry Potter, you look exactly like your father." Harry had no response, partly because he had been told this so many times but mainly because he couldn't have thought of anything to say to this woman. She was imposing and graceful all at once, Harry hadn't realized at the feast last night but she was unsettling in the way she could look at someone. Harry was left alone with these thoughts for no time whatsoever before he could feel her probing into his mind, her occlumency pushing down on him with such force, Harry screamed and forced it back. She was too strong for him and rather than letting him see her thoughts she broke the connection, smiling she said,

"Impressive Mr. Potter." He didn't know whether to remain on the defensive or take the compliment. The other students still looked up expectantly, as if waiting for the rest of the show to come. Harry could see her hand inch for her wand and he waited, seeing what she would do next. The teacher quickly pulled her wand and threw a spell at Harry which he easily blocked, rolling down behind her desk he cast back. The new teacher merely sighed and vanished the desk so that Harry was left with no guard, her sigh riled him up and he casted numerous spells at her the first few she easily deflected but by the fourth or fifth she was slowing down, Harry had her on the run, or so he thought. The woman preformed the summoning spell and Harry sped towards her, he was so surprised that he didn't even think to do anything with the wand hanging loosely by his side. When they were a foot apart Harry tried to perform a conjunctivus curse but she smiled and simply hit him with her fist. Harry fell backwards and slammed onto the stone floor, blood spurting from his newly broken nose. She leaned down and repaired the damaged bones with a quick flick of her wand,

"Excellent now please go out and call in Mr. Weasley then take your seat." Harry didn't know what to make of this, her test seemed awfully unfair. She held out her hand to help him up, he grasped it and pulled, coming at just the right angle Harry thought he saw something poking out from underneath her sleeve. Something tattooed on her skin. Catching him looking she pulled her sleeve down and smiled, ushering him towards the door. Harry was so surprised by the mornings events that he didn't argue with her and thought no more of the strange mark on her arm.

When Ron came in almost the same sequence was done on him except he broke down faster, and his dueling was ended by a spell, not some dirty trick. The three friends sat and watched while the rest of the class was tested, it seemed that no one besides Harry and Malfoy had ended up with blood on them. When Blaise Zabini was finished the students sat staring at this strange woman, who even after all the dueling, hadn't been touched. She grinned at the class and stepped down from her newly transfigured desk, her hair billowed around her shoulders and she spoke to the class.

"I am Professor Persephone Parker and as I'm sure many of you have already guessed this will be a practical course, your books will merely be used as reference for homework. Don't bother bringing them to class, they will just get in the way. I'm sure you can also tell that I am an American, so forgive me if my manners are not quite up to par." Harry looked over at Hermione whose face was in the expression that meant she had just thought of something, never a good thing in Harry's opinion. " In this classroom you will learn about different curses, hexes, jinxes, and counter-jinxes but I will also require you to learn a certain number of muggle combat forms." Draco Malfoy scoffed

"Why in the world would we do that? Muggles cant do magic so we would just use our wands wouldn't we?" Professor Parker inclined her head,

"Well Mr. Malfoy you have a valid point but I would have thought that since you were one of the 2 people who were bested in combat by muggle techniques that you would have understood. Since you do not, lets ask Mr. Potter." Harry pondered the question for a moment, "Because you never know what weapons your opponent has or what they'll use?"

"Absolutely correct. If you Mr. Malfoy had known how to either take a punch, block it or anything, we might still be dueling or you could have won."

The bell rang to signal the end of the period,

"Now don't even try to tell anyone else what we did today I have already put a secrecy spell on all of you, so unless you want to have something to happen to your person, you might want to keep your mouths shut. Have a good afternoon, no homework."

The students grabbed their bags and headed for the door, once outside Ron asked Harry,

"So what do ya figure?"

"I don't know, she seems strange but kinda cool." Ron laughed, "Harry, you think she's cool but you have blood on the front of your robes."

Harry grinned, "Yea Dumbledore probably wont be too happy once he hears about this. Students bleeding in class."

Hermione cut in, "Well at least she healed it all. Hey, did you guys think she was familiar? Like we had met her somewhere? Her name sounded memorable." Harry and Ron both shook their heads and the three of them headed off to Potions with Snape.

The dungeon was as cold and dreary as ever, Harry was shocked that he had managed to even get into this class with the test results he had last year. He had a slight feeling that McGonagall had something to do with it since she was the only person Harry had ever told about his desire to be an Auror. As she had reminded him "Potions are essential on the path to your chosen career as an Auror Potter!" or something close. Harry was disappointed that he had to deal with 2 more years of Snape sneering at him but what other choice did he have?

Harry, Ron and Hermione took their usual seats in the back of the classroom and waited patiently for Snape to come in. When he finally did walk inside he gave his usual self important wave and wrote ingredients on the board, "Begin." he instructed and everyone went to the cupboards to get their things. Harry meticulously chopped and added his many ingredients to his steaming cauldron, knowing very well that Snape was watching him, waiting for him to screw up. At the end of the hour everyone stood next to their finished products while Snape came around and did an inspection. He glowered at any potion maker that didn't belong to Slytherin house, Harry knew something bad was coming because Snape seemed to be saving him for last.

When the Professor arrogantly glided up to his table Harry already had his hand on his wand, how he longed to curse the bastard walking towards him. Harry wouldn't take any of his bullying this year, he refused it, Harry felt that what happened to Sirius was mainly Snapes fault. The spy should have known about the plan in the ministry and if he had taken time to be a good person rather than cruel to Harry Sirius might be here today. Snape took a ladle full of Harry's lime green potion (it was supposed to be emerald green) and gave a disapproving characteristic sneer, letting it drip-drop back into the cauldron.

"Tell me Potter with every loved one you lose do you just get dumber or what?" Harry raised his wand and Ron tackled him before anything could happen,

"Geroff me Ron! I'll kill you!" he yelled at Snape. Ron was finding it even harder to hold onto Harrys struggling body and Snape smiled, "Detention Potter, today at 5 o'clock. Don't be late." With that Snape left the room and Ron finally let go of Harry who screamed at him,

"What the hell is wrong with you! I could have taken him!"

"Yea the blood on your robes really proves to me how tough you are." said Ron in a mocking voice, Harry didn't even bother cleaning his cauldron and he just grabbed his bag and headed to lunch, eating before either Ron or Hermione could get to him.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

At five o'clock that night Harry went down to Snapes dungeon to serve his detention. Hermione had pleaded with him to hold his temper tonight but Harry hadn't promised anything. He wanted his revenge and he was going to take it out on someone if it was the last thing he did, Snape seemed like the most obvious choice. But when Harry arrived at his office he only found a note explaining his instructions, Harry was to clean out Snape's jars of floating things in his office. Harry wanted to retch but his recently broken nose wasn't doing all that well at sniffing things so Harry was spared the unpleasantness of having to smell the preserved feet and etc. He finally finished his job 4 hours later, since it was way past dinner he decided to head upstairs to take a shower and get all this off of him.

When Harry rounded the corner on the fifth floor he ran smack dab into Professor Parker, it was the second time today that he was on the floor in front of her. She held out her hand one more and helped him up, her nose twitched,

"Oh my God Harry what is that smell?" Harry's face flushed and he answered,

"Professor Snape had me clean out his….uh…. _preserved items_ for a detention, I'm just going to take a shower to get it off." He went to leave but she held him back,

"Do you mean the jars in his office?" He nodded yes and she grimaced, "A shower isn't going to get that potion off. Follow me, I have just what you need in my office." Harry followed Professor Parker to what used to be Professor Umbridges office, among others. He was glad to see that the kittens and dolies were gone but they hadn't been replaced with anything. There was just a stone wall and a desk with papers on it. Professor Parker went to a cabinet (the only thing in the room that looked as though a human being had touched it) and pulled out a large bottle with blue potion in it, she poured a small amount in a cup and handed it to him.

"Mix it in with the soap and you'll be good as new."

"Thanks." Harry replied, taking the small cup from her hand.

"Besides I think it'll really burn Professor Snape that you managed to get it off. He probably just assigned that to you to embarrass you." She gave a small laugh and Harry arched his brows,

"How would you know that?" She smirked, "After the relationship he had with your father I'm sure someone as vindictive as Professor Snape would do anything to get to James's son." Harry smiled,

"You went to school with my Dad?" Parker thought twice, "No, but the animosity is almost legendary isn't it?" Harry could tell the conversation was over so he bid goodnight and went to the showers. When he walked into Gryffindor Tower later on Hermione articulated how nice Harry smelled, he just grinned.


	8. The Other Order Member

**Review Responses:**

Ok so I'm responding to one, thanks for all the reviews guys::screen drips with American Outlaw sarcasm:

Peyton: Yes I am mean to Draco, but that is because….well…its because…I don't like Draco. So there.

**Chapter 8: The Other Order Member**

Weeks passed at Hogwarts and the students were bogged down with large workloads and any passersby could see students doing homework by the lake, playing jokes on one another and covertly practicing defense against the dark arts. The entire student body had become obsessed with Professor Parkers classes and many had taken to practicing in their common rooms where they could get away from the prying eyes of Filch.

Harry and his friends rarely participated in these extra practice sessions, since anything they learned in class came so easily to Harry, and Hermione had too much work (Ron was just lazy) the three of them would watch the others with interest. Harry made it a habit of cringing when he saw certain peoples feeble attempts at spells and jinxes, as if their messy spell work was causing him pain. Many of these "messy spells" came from the Hogwarts male population who worked so diligently at the prospect of impressing the beautiful new teacher. Hermione and many of the other girls claimed to dislike Professor Parker because of this (Hermione because Ron was one of the ones who stared during classes) but in reality they all thoroughly enjoyed her class periods.

While Harry and company sat watching another group of people attempting complicated spells Hermione was getting so annoyed with Harry whenever he would recoil from a terrible spell that she finally told him, "Harry if this kills you so much why don't you just go over there and tell them how to do it properly?"

Ron looked at Harry, "Or you know, just reform Dumbledore's Army." Hermione laughed, "Why Ron? We finally have a good teacher."

"Yea but if people want to learn that badly maybe I should, there's no reason not to. Parker would probably love it if we did." Harry said wryly.

Hermione finally pulled her head up from her homework, "Well if you think she would love it so much why don't you just ask to help you with it. Kind of co-teach it, the whole two heads are better than one thing."

"That's actually not a bad idea." Ron and Harry considered this for a minute, "I think you might have just had a very good thought Hermione."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Harry considered this through the next week and decided to first call a meeting of all former Army members to see if enough people were interested. Praying that most everyone still had their coins Harry set the dial for October 5 and tried to talk to the members beforehand.

When October 5 came around Harry, Ron and Hermione headed down to the Room of Requirement where they were met by almost every former Army member, including Fred and George, who had left the previous year. They beamed as Harry walked up,

"Hey its Gred and Feorge!" Harry said in greeting to the twins as he bounded up to them and wrapped them in a welcoming hug. The identical faces smiled and held out their coins,

"So the teacher this year sucks enough that we still need these huh?" asked Fred. Harry laughed,

"No actually she's really good but working for her class seems to have become an obsession so if we can get her to agree, we might just continue with the Defense League."

"Brilliant Harry!" shouted Dean Thomas, who had been eavesdropping on his conversation. The three young men looked around before retreating into the room of requirement, followed by the rest of the members who took seats on large cushy pillows on the floor. Harry wasn't happy to see that Cho Chang was there, sulking as usual. His ex-girlfriend apparently still had not gotten over Cedric's death, Harry rolled his eyes and turned to the other students.

"As you all know Professor Parker is doing a good job this year and most people have become possessed with learning defense." A few of the girls nodded in agreement, throwing dirty looks at the boys. Harry continued, " So because of this I thought that if enough people were interested I would ask her to come in and teach us after hours, kind of like a Defense Against the Dark Arts Club." Fred and George smiled,

"Yea it'll be good with Harry and another teacher helping us out. We can probably get loads more done." George said.

"Oh no, I wont be teaching. I want to learn just like everybody else." a few people in the crowd groaned-

"C'mon Harry!"

"Yea, you did really good last year."

"You got us through exams better than anybody else had before!"

"I appreciate that but I'm not a teacher and since we don't have to hide it anymore we might as well have a proper Professor teaching us these things. There's only so much I know before it starts getting repetitive, besides," he paused, "Parker seems to really know her stuff, if there was anyone in this castle that I had to bet on, besides Dumbledore, that had actually fought Death Eaters, it would be her. We all know there's something spooky about her, those duels, if you can call our complete and utter beatings a duel, were boring for her. I want her to teach me."

"I agree with Harry, we have to truly be able to fight what's out there and I think learning it from someone like her is the best bet we have." This comment came from Cho Chang, Harry was suddenly angry that she had come at all. He had fought Death Eaters too hadn't he? He could teach them if he really wanted, he just didn't want to. Hermione, sensing trouble bounded up next to him,

"So we are all in agreement then? We are Dumbledore's Army once more?" Everyone nodded their heads in agreement and Fred spoke up,

"Well it's about time mate, too bad it came along after we left."

"Not like it stopped you anyway." said Ron out of the side of his mouth, Fred playfully smacked him in the head.

&&&&&&&&&&&&

Persephone truly enjoyed her work at the school, the students were eager learners and it was a thrill to finally be away from constant war talk. She hardly ever made trips to Grimmauld Place anymore and when she did she stayed for the shortest amount of time possible. But working at Hogwarts had its downsides, the neediness of some students, Dumbledore, and how she seemed to be surrounded by teenage boys wherever she went. Persephone had almost taken to vampire tendencies, going out at night so that she could get some time alone outside of her room. She didn't really mind though, she could see Harry every day, not have to deal with Voldemort, had private rooms and a job to keep her mind off of Sirius.

Yes she still thought of him constantly and was eagerly anticipating a Hogsmeade weekend so that she could visit the Shrieking Shack. Remus had told her of its significance and Persephone could barely stand waiting to study the rooms that the Marauders once haunted, where Sirius had hidden for so long. She had requested that Lupin come with her, for emotional support, when she finally did head up there. Since she had little homework to grade her mind was allowed to wander in these thoughts, unrestrained, for such long times that students would often break her out of her daydreams. Persephone would just shrug it off to them, no one knew her true pain, or anything about her secret life.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

At the end of a grueling class period one Monday Harry practically ran up to Professor Parkers desk and shooed away all the other boys in the class. Draco Malfoy made a strange face at him before putting his arm around his girlfriend Lisa and walking out of the room. Harry waited expectantly for Parker to notice him standing there, but she seemed so used to people waiting around her desk that Harry thought she must have gone blind.

Shuffling papers around Professor Parker finally looked up at Harry with trepidation,

"What do you need Mr. Potter? You seemed to understand everything we went over in class today." Harry nodded,

"Well I did but I'm afraid that not everyone did." She looked up at him, offended. Harry realized what that was the wrong thing to say, " OK so that wasn't the best way to start out this conversation."

"No kidding." she said, placing her hands on her narrow hips, staring Harry down with that piercing gaze she used on lying students. He shifted on his feet, why could she make him nervous like that?

"Um…… so I was wondering if you would be up to sponsoring, and teaching an extra class at night for people of all ages who wanted to participate."

"So a club?"

"Yes. I guess you could say that." He replied apprehensively. Persephone sighed, she didn't want to do it, but it was for Harry so it compelled her to say yes.

"How many people are we talking about here? Because if its anything over 30 I cant handle them by myself." Harry smiled, there were only 22 people in Dumbledore's Army!

"22." He said triumphantly. Professor Parker got a hesitant look upon her beautiful face,

"OK, I'll do it." Harry beamed, "But on one condition. YOU have to convince Dumbledore to let us do it. I refuse." Harry smile faded a bit, but he was still confident, the headmaster would understand, Harry was sure of it.

Professor Parker picked up her numerous folders and ushered Harry out of the room, she quickly followed him out and headed towards her office, Harry went the opposite way towards the common room. Harry, as calmly as he could ambled up the hallway and headed towards Gryffindor tower, where he was encircled by a group of expectant Army members, begging him for good news. He was thrilled with the excited looks on their faces when he told them she had agreed to do it, now all he had to do was talk to Dumbledore.

Due to his excitement, Harry didn't much feel like going to lunch, he wanted to talk with Dumbledore as soon as he could, so he dropped of his books and went directly to the large gargoyle outside of the head office. He only then remembered he didn't have the password,

"Cockroach cluster?" he ventured, the gargoyle remained lifeless.

"Grr, um, Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans? Chocolate Frogs? Blood pops?" the gargoyle sprang to life and Harry almost thought it had been blood pops. He was about to voice his disgust at Dumbledore's candy taste when Hagrid stepped outside, towering above him,

"Oy! 'Arry! How are ya?" The giants face was dirty and covered in old sweat but his toothy grin shown through down at Harry. "What are ya doin here? Didn get n trouble again did ya?" Harry shook his head,

"No Hagrid I just needed to ask him a question." Harry didn't know what else to say, he and the gamekeeper had stopped chatting after Sirius's death, Hagrid always wanted to talk about it. Harry found it annoying and invasive. The pair stood at an impasse, awkwardly trying to find a graceful way out of the situation.

Hagrid finally made up some excuse about needing to feed Fang and Harry slipped inside, stepping on the moving staircase to the office. At the landing, Harry stepped off and knocked on the large elegant doors. He could hear a quill scratching on some rough parchment and a fire crackling through the door,

"Come in." came Dumbledore's voice and Harry carefully slid open the doors.

Dumbledore looked up from his parchment and smiled at his favorite student,

"Oh Harry! Good to see son. What brings you here today?" Dumbledore was always right to the point, Harry came towards him and sat in one of the large comfortable chairs on the other side of Dumbledore's desk. He looked around the room, not even slightly ashamed of the last time he had been here when he had destroyed as many of Dumbledore's possessions that he could get to. He remembered his anger after Sirius's death, and he remembered how Dumbledore had finally lost his composure and shown emotion towards him that night. Harry hated him for that but his respect outweighed the bad, Harry still, despite himself, loved the old man. He cleared his throat,

"I wanted to ask you something."

"Ask away." He put down his quill and leaned back in his chair, looking at Harry with his ice blue eyes. Harry looked directly at his stare,

"Well, I was wondering if it would be okay with you if I continued with Dumbledore's Army." Dumbledore raised his eyebrows. "Not, actually Dumbledore's Army but something similar, like there's Charms Club and this would be similar to a Defense Club." Dumbledore nodded in a contemplative way, the gears in his head were turning, thinking over this proposition. He stood up,

"Well, I like the idea but your going to need a teacher to sponsor you."

"Professor Parker had already said that she would do it." Dumbledore lingered on this thought,

"If that's what you think would be best than that's alright but you must promise me that if this little club of yours gets bigger than 25 people you ask Professor Snape to help out as another instructor."

Harry's heart plummeted. "Snape? But why Snape?"

"Professor Snape Harry," Dumbledore corrected, " And I would have thought it obvious. He deals with Death Eaters on a normal basis and I don't want to hear anything about how you don't trust him." He said this just as Harry opened his mouth to argue. "If you want this club to happen, those are the rules."

Harry reserved 22 spots for original members and posted signs saying 3 more people could join that very night. The first meeting would be that Thursday in the Great Hall, Harry sent notes to Fred and George and made sure that everyone would come.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

That Thursday Persephone cautiously walked into the Great Hall to be greeted by 25 bright eyes students sitting in the floor, Harry ran up to her and handed her a list of people in attendance. She thanked him and set the papers on a nearby chair,

"Welcome to our, I guess, second meeting, and I am so glad that you all came tonight and have shown such an interest in this group. First things, we need to elect a President, because I don't have time to take care of everything for everyone. So are there any nominations?" As she expected the usual people were chosen, Harry, Harry and Harry. "Well I think no matter which way the voting goes, Harry won so good job Harry!" she attempted to laugh but no sound came out. She moved on.

She was amazed at their extensive knowledge. She asked them about numerous hexes and they knew them all, obviously Harry had been a wonderful teacher. She decided that since it was the first meeting, she wouldn't overdo it and she settled with Patronuses. A personal favorite of hers after all that time in Azkaban, when she demonstrated for those who hadn't known how to do it a large dog erupted from the end of her wand. Harry could barely see it because she let it fade so fast but it had looked slightly familiar. She told them to get in groups and then proceeded to walk through the groups of people, helping those who had forgotten and taking a brief moment to chat with the Weasley twins who had come in for the night.

Harry watched her the whole time, showing her his stag when she asked him to cast the spell, her face had broken into a large iridescent smile, her eyes wide with glee. At the end of the "brake in" meeting Harry went to bid the Weasleys good night and he found them staring at Professor Parker too.

"I know, she's good isn't she?" he asked, leaning against the wall next to them.

"Yea she's good but we were just talking about how we missed looking at her since 2 summers ago." said George, watching Persephone chat to a first timer about his feeble Patronus. Harry arched his eyebrows,

"What are you guys talking about?"

George leaned in towards him, "You didn't know? She's an Order member, spent a few weeks at Grimmauld Place last year, hung out with Lupin and Sirius a whole lot." Harry's face darkened with the mention of Sirius's name and George looked apologetic. Harry said goodnight and angrily pushed his way past all the other people in the hall, making it to his four poster before anyone could catch him he lay down and punched at the pillow.

She had lied to him, Professor Parker had gone to school with his dad. That's why she had been so thrilled to see that stag tonight. Had she known his mother? She must have if she was friends with Lupin and Sirius, mad, Harry fell into a fretful sleep. All night dreaming of his parents, and Sirius.

**To Be Continued….**

**Next time,**

Persephone and Lupin visit the Shreiking Shack and we see what Sirius has been up to since he left Grimmauld Place.

Like it/ Hate it: Well let me know by commenting damnit.

Disclaimer: I own it all! Muhahahaha! Ok so I own my characters, Persephone, Coben and Lisa, JK Rowlings got the rest, but ya'll knew that.


	9. The Shrieking Shack

**Review Responses:**

Kurama has abandoned my story- tear tear

Peyton- I am not even going into your comment you nerd. I'll try and make you blatantly obvious in future chapters, k? k

Oz- Yes pig latin is fun- unfortunately I understand neither pig nor latin so that took me a few minutes to figure out. WOW

**Chapter 9:The Shrieking Shack **

The cave outside of Hogsmeade had been made quite comfortable for Sirius. The inside was given a expansion charm from Dumbledore himself, the walls were now high and the room was spacious and well lit. He and Remus had moved in a comfortable bed and there was a small refrigerator in the corner. It wasn't a palace, but he was warm and eluding the Ministry still, so he didn't complain. The only problem with his "war time home" was that Persephone was so close to him, only a few minutes walk up to Hogwarts and he could have seen her. Dumbledore had first suggested the cave to hide out and Remus had argued with him about being too close to Hogwarts. Sirius accepted, it was his punishment for this lie. Water everywhere, but not a drop to drink.

Not to say that his time was full of free moments to think on his hidden love, Sirius was guarding, transporting and building weapons. It was still dangerous for him to be in human form so most of his days were spent as a black spectral dog, his haunts were the outside of Death Eaters homes and the numerous paths they walked doing evil deeds. In fact Sirius had saved a newly recruited order member from torture not two weeks ago, right out from under Macnair's nose. He was proud of himself but the feelings were wasted when he had only Remus to share them with, Lupin was so entrenched in under cover work with Fenrir Greyback that Sirius was left completely alone when he wasn't on the job. These were the lonely times.

He had hoped that this treachery of Persephone would have at least granted him more human contact but in reality, he was lonelier than ever. The cave would be silent and dark as he laid in his bed at night, thinking of his friends. It had been months since he had seen Tonks, Arthur or Dung and Remus hadn't been by in over a week.

Lupin had informed him of Persephone's near collapse and her time spent confined in their bedroom. Sirius listened when he was told about her tears, how she never truly smiled any longer and how she had become distant with everyone. Sirius hated himself for these bits of information but he had to admit, at the news of Peters demise, he grew a little happier. It scared him to know that Persephone had turned that cold blooded but he couldn't deny that the rat had gotten exactly what he deserved.

&&&&&&&&&&&&

The first Hogsmeade weekend was rapidly approaching and the faculty was greatly anticipating a day without all the students milling around the castle. Persephone kept herself busy with Dumbledore's Army and grading her midterm papers. McGonagall said she always knew when Persephone was feeling depressed because students would complain of heavy workloads from her classes.

Minerva knew of the plot Dumbledore had put into order about Sirius and Persephone and she couldn't say that she agreed. Her love for Dumbledore was in combat with her feeling about his evil plan, in fact she found herself angry at Dumbledore because of it. She had always greatly admired Persephone and to see someone so powerful acting this weak drove her crazy.

The other teachers were not as sympathetic, many did not know of Sirius' true fate and the only other who did know had a secret agenda of his own. Severus Snape had long held a lust for Persephone, everyone knew about it and it had only increased many's dislike of him. Years ago, James, Remus and Sirius would watch him constantly whenever he and Persephone were in the same room and Snape had known, James was not above cursing him flat out. Persephone had always been gracious about it, calming the three men and merely ignoring Snape at Order functions. But now, with Black and Potter out of the way and Lupin far away from her, Snape was free to pursue her all he wished.

Persephone knew that he watched her with ill intent, his licentious eyes gleamed when she walked into a room and he sweated like some animal whenever she got close enough to him. For the first time in her life she was thankful for Voldemort, Persephone held Snapes very life in her hands. He was at least smart enough to keep a good distance from her, also in the fear that she would kill him 5 times before his hand even reached her face.

Dumbledore was a different case entirely. He avoided her at all times. His shame overpowering him. Especially after his meetings with Sirius and chats with Harry, he could barely stand those, let alone facing down Persephone when she was mad at him.

Dumbledore knew he was dying. His old body simply could not withstand the strain of combat and the stress that came along with it, his secret wish was for Persephone to take over the Order when he finally did pass. But she was not ready yet, not near at all. He had not confessed either of these bits of information to anyone, not even Minerva, though he longed to tell her. It was only last year he had worked up the courage to start calling her "Minerva" rather than Professor McGonagall, Tonks was right, he HAD given up his chances at love and a family for these people. And he would die being hated by most of them, where was their justice now?

&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Persephone stepped outside of the castle gates, breathing in the crisp air like a much needed life line. Covered in her flowing black velvet cloak she walked down to Hogsmeade to meet Remus in The Three Broomsticks. The day was bright and sunny, birds chirping in the trees and the students running past her to reach the town were laughing and flirting with one another. Persephone briefly thought of where Harry was, he had become rather withdrawnlately. She suspected it had something to do with his two friends dating. Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley had become inseparable, Persephone had even had to reprimand them on occasion for not taking their… "time alone," alone. She envied the two of them, so happy together with their new love. Persephone herself could never see her with another person, the prospect brought up too much pain.

The tavern was smoke filled and loud, a frazzled looking woman in purple heels ran to and fro, fetching orders for the demanding students. Persephone glanced around and saw a cloaked man sitting in the corner, his old greyed hood covered his face but she could tell he was looking at her. So were 15 other people, ever the spy, Persephone turned around and headed back into the street, hoping Remus would understand and follow.

She waited at the end of the high road until he met her a few minutes later,

"That probably wasn't the best meeting place we could have picked." He said, his breathing short. She laughed,

"No definitely not. Too many people to see us together, we should think these things out a bit more from now on." The pair smiled and continued on the path towards the Shrieking Shack, Remus noticed that her smile had become real again and she laughed often. They chatted about students he had and what she thought about them, Harry and how Dumbledore's Army was going. They never mentioned Sirius, more than likely because they both knew an emotion filled afternoon was ahead of them. Remus had no doubts that she would be sad to walk around a place where Sirius had wasted away, she wasn't so sure.

"It might be healing. To see where he was, know what his place of refuge was like." Persephone just hoped that she wasn't lying to herself.

They rounded the corner and the small old house came into view. Atop a hill it looked like something from one of the movies Persephone watched as a child, the home of the old miser that had mysteriously died years ago. It sent chills up her spine, the house looked as though it had once been painted purple though the paint had been worn off years ago. The grounds were clear with few dead trees dotting the landscape. A few of the windows had been broken in by vandals and the dust on the others made it impossible to see in. Persephone glanced at Remus, but he looked just as entranced as she, staring at his old prison in wonder, it was something from a bad dream. She touched his shoulder and the pair went through the high gates, performing a charm to let them slide through easily they silently stalked up the hill towards the front door.

Persephone braced herself and pushed open the moldy door, the hinges creaked in protest and she pushed on. Her eyes squinted at the change of light, the bright sunlit afternoon she had been experiencing was cut short by the almost sheer blackness inside. She walked into the dust filled hallway and Remus shut the door behind them. The interior of the house reminded Persephone of Grimmauld Place, the furniture was all broken and shredded, the walls coated in dust and dirt and a sense of foreboding hung in the air. She turned to Remus, he gave her an encouraging smile and the pair walked the length of the hall taking in their surroundings. Remus had a preoccupied look upon his tired face, remembering the times he spent here.

"Good memories? Or bad?" she asked him softly, he grinned timidly.

"Well you have to understand that before James and Sirius figured out about this place it was almost torture having to come here." he paused, "But once they did, some of the best times of my life started right here. This house, this village, it is all of them. All of us." she nodded, satisfied with his reply for now. They strolled through the house slowly, Remus telling her of all their adventures and indeed, misadventures. Persephone felt a calming sensation overcoming her, a step in a therapeutic healing that her heart so desperately needed. The two of them sat in the small kitchen and talked about the past for hours, completely secluded from the outside world so full of war and terror. They were spending a much need vacation in the past.

Their conversation eventually came around to after Sirius escaped from Azkaban and the confrontation that they had with Harry. Choosing to illustrate what he was saying, Lupin led Persephone upstairs to the old musty bedroom. Leaving the kitchen they once again walked the length of the hallway to the stairs, Remus was about to climb when Persephone held him back. Someone else was inside the house.

The layers of dust on the stairs had been disturbed, foot prints dotted the steps and there was a sweep at the edges where a cloak had hit. They glanced at each other and pulled out their wands, in silence they crept up the stairs, prepared for whatever came their way. Remus took the front and the snuck along towards the very bedroom he had been taking her to in the first place. Pausing outside of the door he tried to listen to the person inside but all was silent. He motioned for Persephone to cover him and she quickly crossed to the other side of the door, waiting in the wings to protect him.

Remus held his wand tightly and breathed in deeply, despite the dust. In a quick fluid motion he pushed open the door with Persephone right behind him, but it was only Harry, sitting in silence on the bed. The two of them sighed and let their wands fall to their sides, Harry looked up at the two of them with a quizzical look on his young face.

"What are you doing here?" Harry asked Lupin, he wouldn't look at Persephone. Remus glanced at her, attempting to ask for a quick story to tell him but seeing his blank stare she dove in,

"We could ask you the same thing." Harry's face grew dark and dangerous,

"I wasn't asking you." Persephone was shocked, he had never spoken to her with such an attitude. Remus looked down at him,

"Harry, what ARE you doing here?" Satisfied with talking to Lupin Harry stood up and crossed the room towards them,

"I had some…memories, that needed to be revisited." Remus could tell that he was avoiding talking about Sirius in front of Persephone. So he broke the ice,

"Are you here for Sirius?" asking the obvious Harry became flustered and angry.

"Yea so! What do you care! Cant I just have one afternoon of peace without all you liars constantly surrounding me like I'm a little baby that needs to be protected!" Remus slightly cocked his head, causing his gray hairs to fall to the side,

"Harry with all do respect, we have never lied to you. And of all the people in the world, we are two of the few who know how well you can defend yourself."

"She lied!" he said, pointing at Persephone with an accusatory look. "She lied when she said she didn't go to school with my Dad! But she did! I know she did!" Persephone remained quiet, choosing to watch this train wreck rather than jump in between the cargo car and the wall it was heading towards.

"Harry," Remus replied calmly, "What makes you think that that was a lie?" Harry's face grew uncomfortable, his face less red than before.

"Fred and George told me that she was an Order member and that she was with you and Sirius a lot." Remus looked over at her with a bemused expression, Harry continued, "And she knows stuff about my Dad. How else would she have known that?" Clearly, Harrys anger, young hormones and his mourning were fueling this breakdown, Remus tried to talk in the most soothing manner he could muster.

"Well Harry don't look at me for an explanation. She's right here, ask her yourself." Harry whipped his head around to her, still standing by the door watching the scene in front of her. She stepped away from the frame and spoke to him,

"Yes I am an Order Member but that's really none of your business until your seventeen now is it?" she lacked tact but she thought Harry lacked a smack across the face so she simply pressed on, " Yes I was with Remus and Sirius while I was at headquarters because we were all friends through your mother. Who I met at work, not at school, like I said before I am an American. I went to school in Salem. Does that satisfy you for now?"

Harry looked slightly embarrassed, he had overreacted to a major degree and his face flushed.

"Oh. Yea I guess that would make sense wouldn't it?"

"You'd be guessing right." He stood and looked at the two adults, feeling smaller by the minute. An uncomfortable air had settled over the room and Harry asked again (demurely) what the two of them were doing there.

"I'm giving her a tour of the lesser known places in Hogwarts." Harry grinned, his anger miraculously washed away, " Has he shown you the secret passageway behind that mirror yet?" She smiled too,

"No we were going for a more, _historical_, feel. I wanted to see where he and my other friends came during their free time." The three of them chatted all afternoon and eventually told Persephone every detail about the night Sirius proved his innocence. She held her composure very gracefully and hours later they all walked back to the castle together. She and Harry saw Remus off at the gates and the other two continued up the pathway talking about Dumbledore's Army.

About 5 minutes away from the school Persephone looked up and saw a silver phoenix flying at her, Dumbledore's Patronus. This was not a good sign, she stopped Harry mid-sentence and allowed the bird to perch on her shoulder. It translated a message to her before fading away, she had a horrified expression on her beautiful face.

"Harry, I'm so sorry but I have to go, there's a bit of an emergency." And without another word she took off running towards the castle, leaving Harry bewildered and standing alone. The message said,

"_The Weasley Twins, along with Kingsley Shacklebolt have disappeared. All we can find of them is signs of a struggle in the Weasley's flat where Kingsley had been staying to protect them. I need you to help find them, get to my office immediately."_

Hearing Dumbledore's voice repeating this in her head Persephone ran flat out towards Dumbledore's office. Panting, her velvet cloak flew out behind her like wings as she quickly ascended the many staircases to the stone gargoyles. Trying to catch her breath she found herself in front of his office whispering the password to the guardians. She didn't wait for the stairs to take her up, she jumped everything until she arrived at the heavy wooden doors and pushed them open without bothering to knock.

Dumbledore was sitting at his desk talking to Professors Snape and McGonagall, Tonks and Mad-Eye Moody.

"Dumbledore what's happened?" He sighed, raising a bony hand towards his forehead.

"This morning Arthur and Molly stopped by the flat to give the boys some cakes and they found all of the possessions strewn around the floor, lamps and furniture were broken and there were small amounts of blood on the floor."

"Oh my God. Well what about the lab? Was that destroyed? They're known to be jokers had anyone considered that?" McGonagall shook her head,

"No, I knew those boys. Many things they would joke about and this is not one. They would never maliciously cause their parents this much pain. They have boundaries and this would have crossed them." Persephone nodded solemnly, waiting for her instructions from Dumbledore, but he didn't give them. Instead he turned to her,

"Well Persephone, give everyone their orders for finding the boys."

**To Be Continued..**

_Next Time: Persephone begins to take a leadership role for the Order and the search begins for the 3 captives._

_Like/hate: To Lex and Lees, you guys rule. _


	10. A Night at Amycus's House

**Review Responses: **

Kurama: Yay! You're back! And no biggie, everybody is bogged down with school stuff. I'm the ultimate moron who decides that instead of doing the homework that so desperately needs to be done, I do this. Ha ha

Peyton: I told you! I'm trying to liven it up a bit- is it working? Dumbles is dying- mahahahahahaha!

The Great and Powerful Oz- It does kinda suck, so close, but yet so far. I think it's sadistically funny though. Ha ha, or does that make me kinda evil?

**Chapter 10: A Night at Amycus's **

"What?" Persephone was stunned, Dumbledore was regarding her with a hopeful gaze glowing in his ice blue eyes. "Why me? This is a little unorthodox don't you think?"

"Well yes, but I am simply too tired and you know how the Death Eaters work. You would be the best bet to formulate a plan for rescue." The other people in the room were staring at her now as well, McGonagall gave her the usual pitying look that infuriated her. Snape was sweating again and Moody looked anxious. Persephone was caught in the headlights but then she thought of those poor boys and noble Kingsley, suddenly it was clear in her mind what they had to do. She snapped into action like a fired gun,

"Severus, go to Malfoy Manor, make it look like your there to talk about Draco or something. Work it into the conversation get as much information as you can about the kidnapping. Report back as soon as possible." Snape glanced at the other people in the room as if looking for someone to tell him not to follow her orders. No one even met his eye, so he walked out of the room with a quick swish of his black as night robes. Persephone paced the room, her hand at her lip, deep in thought.

"Minerva, Mad-Eye, I would like you both to go to Grimmauld Place. But Minerva first, please go fetch the other Weasley children and Mr. Potter to bring them with you. I believe you know how to make a portkey?" she nodded, so Persephone continued, " Mad-Eye I want you to send out an alert at the house, call in all good trackers and start a search party. Do not let them go out alone, everyone must be in pairs." The two of them agreed and left the room without another word. Turning to Tonks, she asked her if she could go and get Lupin and get started on a search immediately,

"We're placing confidence in your stealth and tracking ability Tonks. Don't let us down." Tonks gave a rather nervous smile and tipping her off color bowler hat at Dumbledore left the Office in a hurry. Dumbledore merely gazed at Persephone for a moment, waiting to see if she would talk to him. She re-adjusted her cloak and said to him,

" I will be going to Voldemort, make it look like a weekend surprise or something. I'll get as much information out of him as possible and try to get back as soon as I can." She turned to leave,

"Persephone-" she looked back at him, "Thank you." She didn't know what to say so she turned away and pushed open the large doors to the stairs. Dumbledore watched her go, and as soon as he was certain that she was gone he sent a correspondence to Sirius. He needed the best trailers he could get.

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Persephone had a disgusted feeling in her stomach, the trackers needed a distraction and that was exactly what she would give them. She went as fast as she could to her quarters and ruffled through her clothes, deciding on a pair of tight black pants and a red top she applied a bright, seductive red to her lips and fixed her hair. Voldemort would have to fall for her or the others could be caught. She grabbed some things the might come in handy on her mission and throwing her heavy cloak over her shoulders she sped from the room and down to the village. She went into her apparition at a run and in seconds was standing in front of Tom Riddles headstone, Persephone came out from behind it and tried to catch her breath. The stitch in her side was painfully throbbing while she gasped for air, her entrance had to be as natural as she could make it.

Persephone regained control of her breathing and hugged her cloak to her frame. She looked around cautiously before heading up the steps to the front door, without bothering to knock she opened the door and came face to face with Erik, Voldemorts new servant. He didn't seem surprised,

"Why did you wait so long to come inside?" He asked in a dangerous voice.

"You were watching me?"

"Of course, it is my job to alert The Lord if something is wrong, or if someone is acting strangely." Persephone rolled her eyes, if it was Peter she could have just shoved him out of the way and told him to go and screw himself. But Erik was different, despite his young age he was forceful and not a person to be trifled with.

"Well I'll let you know if anyone is." He didn't laugh, she figured he wouldn't.

"My Master is not here at the moment. He went to Lord Amycus's house about an hour ago. Said he had some important business to attend to tonight with a few people. I'm not sure where he would be now. I will let him know that you stopped by to see him, can I expect that it was for a, special occasion?" He said this last part in a superior tone as his ugly nose scrunched up at the Dark Lords lover in disgust.

"Yes you can, but tell him I cant come back for awhile. This was just for this weekend. Dumbledore is watching me too closely." He inclined his head towards her to say he understood.

Persephone nodded and thanked him, she would have been excited that she didn't have to sleep with Voldemort tonight but the prospect of going to Amycus's house was nerve-wracking. Amycus was a high level Death Eater from France, close in Voldemort's circle and she was absolutely sure that the boys and Kingsley were locked in the sick dungeon he kept in his basement. Amycus used this basement for numerous actions, he preffered torturing victims over sex, although Persephone was sure that he sometimes incorporated both activities into one night time event.

Needing a safe place to send a message Persephone apparated to Hogsmeade and, making sure she was alone, conjured her Patronus. The large black dog erupted from her wand and stood in front of her, whispering into it's ear her destination it dutifully ran up to castle to deliver the message. She didn't watch it go, she just flipped around and was standing in front of Amycus's house. It was finally dark outside and the house was ominously staring at her. The windows gave off an eerie glow and there was a soft mist surrounding the grounds, she rang the bell at the large wrought iron gates and a translucent head of one of Amycus's servants popped out of the box.

"Name?" it asked in a bored monotone voice.

"Persephone Parker." she replied.

"Purpose of visit?"

"I need to talk to your master, our business has nothing to do with you." The head rolled its eyes and said, "Very well." before the gates swung open. She walked up the path towards the twin black doors, a lantern hung on the front of the house and she could see the marks of what was clearly three bodies being dragged through the dirt. She shuddered and went to knock on the door.

Amycus opened it after only a few short moments, his face protruded from the crack between the door and its frame. His features, which were rough yet very feminine at the same time, were squished in a comical fashion.

"Vat do you vant?" His accent was overpowering and since his mouth was being squished Persephone found it difficult to understand him. She gave him a confused look before he finally let her in and she walked over the threshold. A servant immediately came towards her and took her cloak while the Frenchman gave her a disapproving glare. Although he was a small man, Amycus was imposing and not someone that Persephone would be too happy to get into a fight with. He was famous for his sexual cruelty, not unlike the Marquis de Sade, torture was erotic to him, it was just a freaky coincidence that both of them were French.

"Where is the Dark Lord?" she said, trying to calm her nerves, she knew the boys were here somewhere.

"He stopped by about an hour ago to talk to moi about a verree important plan."

"You know Amycus, it is only polite to offer a guest something to drink." she wanted to annoy him and stay for as long as she could. Hopefully she would be able to slip a sleeping potion into his cup while he wasn't looking, then she could rescue the boys. Amycus scowled at her,

"Tea?"

"Yes please." she replied pleasantly as he led her towards the kitchen, while they walked she moved the small potion bottle to her front pocket for easy access. The Frenchman poured the pair of them a cup of steaming hot tea and sat down at the kitchen counter across from her. Persephone wasn't dumb enough to actually drink the liquid, Death Eaters weren't trustworthy, she knew that better than anyone. Amycus in turn didn't trust her so Persephone found herself at an amusing standstill. His manners fought him to keep her in the kitchen and comfortable but he desperately wanted to return to his prisoners in his basement. He hadn't even started on the younger ones yet, and he had only beaten the elder man, there was much left to do.

"Could I get some crackers? I haven't eaten all day." she purred and scowling, again, Amycus stood and walked towards his cabinet, just feet away. Persephone decided against pouring anything into his cup, trusting him pour it out, so instead, she surreptitiously poured the entire contents into the tea kettle. He threw some old moldy biscuits down on the table and poured the contents of his teacup into the kitchen sink. Giving her a look of intellectual superiority he poured himself a new cup, taking a sip he immediately fell face flat onto the counter asleep.

She had to move quickly, she put a charm on the house so that the servants would only hear a gentle talking coming from the kitchen and nothing else. Persephone checked the time (9:17) and moved as fast as she could to the basement door. Amycus had positioned a guard at the outside of the entrance, Persephone hid for a moment to determine if she was in the clear before whispering "Imperio!" and pointing her wand at him. She felt him in her control, and she could see the blank stare upon his face. _Open the door_ she said in her mind, every one of her instructions were followed perfectly until she found herself standing in Amycus's dungeon of torture.

The dungeon was dark, lit with only few torches along the stone walls. One corner of the room held an actual cell, where Persephone could see Fred and George looking at her. They were smart enough not to make any noise, they pointed towards the opposite wall. There lay Kingsley, his back was bloody and torn up, bits of his white shirt were embedded in long gashes across his shoulder blades. She made her victim stand in front of where Kingsley's body lay and she then punched him straight across the face, knocking him out cold. Taking his keys she went and freed the twins, "Shh." she instructed them before going over to Shacklebolt, leaning down she pushed up her sleeves to preform a spell.,

"Ennervate." Kingsley's eyes fluttered open, "shh," she used a finger to cover her mouth. He nodded to say he understood, the twins were watching the door, while she healed the whip marks enough so that Shacklebolt could walk. She mouthed to the men to follow her and showed them out the doors, she gave Kingsley her wand and told them to head to Hogwarts and report to Dumbledore. Running back into the house she stood in the dining room, directly adjacent to the kitchen, she saw that it was now 9:26. Taking a time turner out of her pocket, Persephone flipped the dial once, glad to see that no servants had come in or out of this area since 15 minutes ago, Persephone watched herself pour the potion into the tea kettle and then Amycus's head hit the table. As soon as her other self left the kitchen Persephone moved into the kitchen and poured out the contents of both tea cups and the pot, using Amycus's wand she conjured new tea and poured out the right amount to make it believable. She distributed the tea back into the cups and at 9:18 she used Amycus's wand to reinervate him. He woke up to a memory charm, remembering his angry conversation with Persephone that he KNEW he had just had. They proceeded to shout at each other until a petrified guard ran inside saying that the dark prisoner had punched him and everyone had escaped, no trace to be found. Amycus was furious.

Voldemort showed up about 15 minutes later to hear what had happened, he was delighted to see her and she was a good enough actress to act as though she felt the same. Amycus was punished with the cruciatus curse (although for someone like him that might have been a gift rather than a punishment) and Voldemort took Persephone from the house and back to Riddle Manor. She stayed with him all night in his bedchambers, but this was the first night she let him use her and didn't end up hating herself for it.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Harry sat in Grimmauld Place with the remaining Weasley family. Bill, Charlie, Mr.Weasley and Percy had joined the search parties to find the twins so that left Mrs. Weasley, himself, Ron and Ginny and Hermioneto think about all the terrible things that could be happening at this very moment. Harry longed to go out and help look but McGonagall had refused it outright, saying that once he was seventeen he could do whatever he wished but while he was sixteen he would follow the rules that the people who loved him set down. The group sat in this miserable stupor for awhile, Mrs. Weasley had silent tears slipping down her face while Ron and Hermione sat on the couch together, Hermione supportively holding Ron's hand. He had turned green and looked as nervous as Harry had ever seen him. Ginny sat in front of the fireplace staring into the flames, Harry watched her, wanting to sit down next to her and comfort her but he couldn't, now was not the time.

They remained this way, unspeaking and solemn for about an hour until Dumbledore walked in followed by Fred and George and the rest of the Weasley family. Mrs. Weasley jumped up and pulled them into a tight hug the boys were so scared that they didn't even protest. The rest of the family took part in a silent hug fest while Dumbledore looked on with a silly grin upon his face. Finally Mrs. Weasley was able to stammer,

"What happened? Where were they? Who…who…who…" but she had lost her nerve and the tears overtook her.

Dumbledore smiled, "The will be their decision of what to tell you, not mine. I am only here to drop them off and take Harry and Hermione back to the school." The two in question stood up to leave but Mrs. Weasley wouldn't hear of it, they were family and she would take them back when she saw fit. Dumbledore smiled and bid the happy group goodbye. Harry and Hermione joined the entire family in the kitchen where they all listened to Fred and George tell about the night and the creepy dungeon they were held in, Harry could tell that they were holding something back. Fred looked nervous and George had gone quiet, it was a bit unnerving.

Finally, at 2 am Mrs. Weasley made everyone go upstairs to bed but Harry had another idea. Once he could be certain that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were asleep he grabbed Ron and Hermione and all three of them apparated to the twins bedroom. Fred and George hadn't gone to sleep yet and as soon as they three of them appeared they grabbed their wands in a nervous jump, pointing it at the trio.

"Hey, its just us, it's okay." Ron said, holding his arms up, they lowered their wands to their sides. Harry stepped forward,

"What weren't you guys telling us? You don't honestly think we would believe that the tortured Kingsley punched the Death Eater out and then helped you escape do you?"

Fred was sitting in a chair and George was staring out the window, both are their faces lit with a single candle glowing brightly in the middle of the room. Fred looked at them,

"We told Dumbledore, that should be good enough."

"Well its not. We want to know, why wont you tell us." Fred replied,

"Maybe because we don't want to."

"Fred-" This came from George, who finally tore his eyes away from the window, "They need to know, they could be in danger if we don't tell them." Fred conceded to his brother simply because he didn't want to fight with him. George walked over and stood behind Freds chair, "That teacher of yours. The new one. She's the one that rescued us." Harry shrugged his shoulders,

"How is that bad? I saw her when she got the message, she was terrified."

"No Harry, she, she… we saw her kiss Voldemort." Hermione gasped and Ron's face turned white,

"What?" Harry replied, shocked.

"She has a Dark Mark, she was kissing him and she seemed to hold some sort of power over the guy that had kept us locked up."

"When did you see this? I thought you guys said you were running away."

"We couldn't get out as fast as we wanted so we had to hide and hope that no one found us. We watched _him_ come up the walkway and she came out to him, smiling all wide and thrilled. He grabbed her and just-" at this he shuddered and decided to head back to the window. Hermione thought about it for a moment,

"Harry, remember on that first day of class when she was introducing herself?"

"Yea, so what? I still don't see any proof that shes a Death Eater, shes probably just a spy like Snape."

"No, when she said her full name it sounded familiar, like I had heard it before. When we get back to school in the morning I can prove it. I think Fred and George are right. Even if you don't want to admit it, its possible." Harry shook his head but Ron spoke up,

"Yea Harry, you have to admit there is something creepy about her. She's always in long shirts, she avoids questions about her past, she seems to really hate Dumbledore and not mention she was meeting some shady person in the Three Broomsticks yesterday. It might be the answer." Harry was still in disbelief,

"But that person she met was Lupin. And she also hung around with Sirius when he was alive." Ron replied,

"But Harry, that's exactly it. When he was alive, maybe he figured it out and she needed to shut him up. Then she went off with Lupin to the Shrieking Shack, that seems fishy to me. She also refers to Voldemort as the Dark Lord, only something that Death Eaters do."

Harry shook his head, "Do you all realize how far fetched this sounds? It's not very likely."

"But what if it is true? As a woman, I know that there is no way I would kiss Voldemort unless I was in love with him. So she must be. Just wait until tomorrow, I can prove if she was a Death Eater all those years ago." Right at that moment they thought they heard Mr. and Mrs. Weasley stir so they all quickly ran back down to their bedrooms before they could get in any trouble.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Dumbledore came and retrieved the 4 students the next morning and got them to the castle just in time for breakfast. Harry and Ron headed straight for the Great Hall while Ginny and Hermione went upstairs. Ginny wanted a shower and Hermione had to figure something out about Professor Parker. Harry watched as Ginny went up the stairs, sad to see her go.

The two boys sat down at the long dining table and loaded their plates full of bacon, eggs and toast. Understandably, Ron was in a much more boisterous mood than last night. Somehow rumors of Fred and Georges kidnap had circulated throughout the school so between mouthfuls Harry and Ron had to remedy people's questions about the popular twins. They wouldn't tell anyone any details, just that they were fine. It wasn't as if they could have told any details if they wanted to, neither of them was completely sure of what the real story was anyway.

The students were all getting ready for the first Quidditch Match of the season, Ravenclaw vs. Slytherin, and many people were already leaving to get good seats down at the pitch. Harry and Ron were just about to leave and head down there themselves before Hermione came running at full force with a piece of paper in her hands, trying to get their attention.

"It's true! It's true! She served 14 years in Azkaban for being a Death Eater. I just read it in the Daily Prophet archives, so what do you think of her now huh?" Harry took the paper from her and read through the small article.

_Today, Bartemus Crouch sentenced 5 death eaters to an undetermined prison time in Azkaban. In a statement to the Daily Prophet yesterday Mr. Crouch had this to say, "Hopefully with the capture of these evil doers the wizarding community as a whole, is coming closer to seeing these dark days put behind us. We can all sleep safer now knowing that a handful of You-Know-Who's underlings are behind bars." The 4 men and 1 woman's crimes varied from torture, to murder to conspiracy. The names of the sentenced are as follows, Mark Russo, Tyson Burne, Sam Clent, Frank Mossimo and Persephone Parker. _

Harry turned the paper over, "That's it?" He asked, shocked, "How can that be it?"

" I don't know but after that she wasn't ever mentioned in the papers again. The other 4 were though, Mark Russo died in prison as did Frank Mossimo. Burne and Clent were both broken out by Death Eaters a few months ago. I cant find anything on why she's out, nothing if she was released or if she was broken out."

"Well at least we know one thing." Ron said.

"Whats that?" Harry asked, still staring transfixed on the piece of paper in his hand.

"Fred and George were for once on their lives, actually right."

**To Be Continued…..**

Next Chapter- Dumbledore will have a little chat with Persephone about his plans and not alone Harry is suspicious of where her loyalties lie. There might also be some sex for her, I don't know yet. Ha ha


	11. A Sirius Dilemma

**Review Responses:**

Kurama- Thanks once again for the review!

Peyton- Yes you do like crackers and I could never get rid of Fred and George, I like them too much.

Oz- No, you MAY NOT call me gin-gin or have any of my swords. Stop asking.

**Note: I forgot to mention last time that Amycus is not mine. I created his home, his servants and his personality but the name belongs to none other than J.K. Rowling. My bad and I apologize. I'm not sure who to apologize to but I'm gonna anyway.**

**WARNING: If you get creeped out or offended easily, well, you have been warned. Snape is a nasty jack hole.**

**Chapter 11: A Sirius Dilemma**

Persephone washed herself off the next morning and, leaving Voldemort asleep in the grand bed, quickly headed back to the castle. She wanted to see Kingsley and hear about the rest of the nights events, she had done what she could. All she could do now was hope that it had been enough.

It was about eleven o'clock when Persephone walked through the front doors of the castle. She could hear the clanking of plates and excited voices coming from the Great Hall, ready to head down to the Quidditch Pitch for Ravenclaw vs. Slytherin. Persephone chose instead, to head directly to the Hospital Wing, running into no one she soon found herself outside the doors to the wing. Kingsley lay inside, bloody and tired, but when he saw her he whispered words of thanks that she brushed aside while she cleansed his wounds with a cloth. Kingsley assured her that the boys were just fine and had escaped without a scratch on them for which she was very thankful. He grew tired abruptly and Persephone decided to leave him in peace while she went and talked to the Headmaster.

The office was as beautiful and fascinating as ever, Dumbledore was out at the moment but she gathered that he would be back soon. She tried to stop her curiosity from overpowering her but she was thrilled at the opportunity to look at Dumbledore's exotic trinkets from around the world. Going up to a small glass bird sitting on one of the shelves she outstretched her hand and plucked it from its post. Turning it over in her hands, Persephone took in the intricate design of the feathers and smiled to herself.

"You shouldn't be touching that you know." Came a voice from the other side of the room, Persephone jumped slightly and the magical trinket flew out of her hands and back to its shelf. She looked up at the portraits, of the ones that hadn't left to visit most were napping, except one with dark eyes in the corner. It was Phineas Nigellus, former headmaster and near relative to Persephone. She scowled at him,

"Hello Phineas. How are you?" she would at least attempt at civility with him, even if he was a portrait.

"I am wonderful now that I know my Grandson definitely didn't marry you. A sorry excuse for a spy, the only thing you're good at is laying down isn't it? Almost married a little whore and then where would our family line be?"

"Phineas-" she said dangerously.

"Oh tell me Persephone, do you want to know a secret? I can tell you the biggest secret in the world! My Grandson-"

"Phineas!" This came from Dumbledore who had just strode into the room, heavy books loaded into his arms, "Don't you dare think that just because you are mad at me I will tolerate that. I can easily have your portrait moved to the kitchens surrounded by the house elves. Do you want that?" The painting angrily glared at Dumbledore before walking out the side of the frame, most likely to his portrait in Grimmauld Place to sulk.

"What was that about?" Persephone asked, staring into the space where her once possible Grandfather-in-law had stood. Dumbledore gave an uncharacteristic shrug of his narrow shoulders,

"Oh he's mad because I wouldn't let him interject his own opinions into every one of my conversations and- OW!" Dumbledore slouched down and hit the ground on his knees, wincing in pain. Persephone rushed to him,

"Sir! Sir!" She knelt next to him, her hands steadying him as he rocked on the floor, but this breakdown was over as quickly as it had started. Dumbledore glanced at her nervous face, anxiously staring into his and tried to stand. Persephone ripped the books from his hands and forced him to recline and rest. He didn't argue,

"Persephone, I think that it's time I told you something."

"Just relax, stop thinking about working for once and concentrate on making yourself comfortable." Dumbledore knew that he couldn't argue with her so he allowed her to conjure him some water and rest for a few minutes before he started talking again.

"I am glad to see that you are safe and in one piece." he said, Persephone smiled while she prepared another glass of water at his desk, " Well one of us has to be." she replied. She crossed the room and helped him up. He moaned and she helped him into his desk chair, "Alright I am going to go and fetch Madam Pomfrey."

"No. I don't need that, she knows about this." Dumbledore waved his hand, which Persephone could now see was discolored and thin.

"But Sir, she needs to be informed."

"Well I need to talk to you." He said this with a strong finality in his voice. Persephone went to sit in the chair only after she made him promise to see Madam Pomfrey once they had talked. She sat down expectantly. The room had taken on an uncomfortable air about it. They had fought with each other before, she had even cried in front of him but nothing was more awkward than him showing weakness. She couldn't stand the silence.

"Persephone," Dumbledore started, "I wanted to congratulate you on your excellent handling of the situation last night and tell you that I am truly impressed." Persephone shifted in her chair, she knew that this was not what he wanted to talk about. The impending words hung in the air like a blade above the condemned, ready to strike at any moment. He continued with reluctance, for his next words were heavy.

"Persephone, I am dying." The words fell just like the knife slicing the air in large sections.

"What? What are you talking about?" she asked, shocked. _This couldn't be happening, Dumbledore cant die, he just cant. He's near to immortal. _

"My body is giving out. I am simply too old to continue and I am positive that I will soon die." He gave Persephone a few moments to reflect on this before he continued,

"I have not told another living soul this information and do you know why?" Persephone shook her head no, still trying to contemplate how things would be without him. Even though she hated him for what he forced her to do she respected him and couldn't bear to think of an Order, or Hogwarts for that matter, without him.

"Persephone, look at me." He had to refocus her attention from the shock and back to him, to now. "I haven't told anyone, not even Minerva because I have chosen you to continue on with my work for the Order." At this Persephone shot her head up and stared into his blazing blue eyes, she didn't believe what she was hearing.

"Sir?"

"Yes, I will want to meet with you and discuss all you will need to know so that you will be fit to take over. Minerva will have the school and you will have the Order, I think you understand now that in order to make a difference you have to go to extremes. Like you did last night." But Persephone was starting to raise her hackles a bit, _Who was he to leave her in charge?_

"Sir, there are better candidates than me. Mad-Eye, McGonagall, hell even Snape would be a wiser choice then me." Dumbledore cocked his head in her direction,

"But I want you." Persephone didn't want this job, she couldn't handle all this information right now.

"With all due respect, I think this is one of the worst decisions you have ever made. Arthur Weasley can take the Order, I don't want it."

"You would refuse this to a dying man?" Dumbledore replied with a hint of humor hidden behind his tired face. Persephone's eyes narrowed in on him,

"This isn't funny. Why tell me about your…situation." She couldn't bring herself to say 'death' so she just ignored it. "Why make me of all people your successor?" Dumbledore reclined back into his chair, the pain seeming to have eased momentarily.

"Well, that is a fair question. You are smart, cunning and willing to do whatever it takes to defeat him. Not to mention that you know him better than anyone, and someone who knows the enemy is an extremely valuable asset."

"Then why not someone like Snape? Let him and Arthur take it." She sat back in her chair as well, though her newfound position was from weariness. Dumbledore continued,

"Severus knows the Death Eaters, but he does not know Voldemort half as well as you do. You and I share a common trait in this. We both know not the man known as Voldemort, but Tom Riddle." Persephone gave a confused look. "Persephone, I first met Voldemort when he was a child and am one of the few people who know his as Tom. I was familiar with him in his younger years and he has once even sat in the very chair you are in now, talking to me," Dumbledore watched Persephone recoil, " You have known him in the most intimate of situations and therefore, you are the only person who could possibly hold any clues to bringing him down."

Persephone shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Voldemort sat in his bedchambers looking over the reports from some of his Death Eaters, this was a casual exercise, more for his records than anything else. But today was different, today he was looking for something different, today he was looking for the spy. Once he found them, it would only be a matter of time.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Severus Snape stepped out of this office and headed straight for Persephone's classroom, he knew that she generally haunted her room on Sundays, planning for the upcoming week. He was going under false pretenses, claiming to be interested in how she pulled off the rescue, he would finally make his move on her. Figuring she would desire some comfort after her…intense, night with the Dark Lord yesterday, he decided to be the one to offer it.

He stalked up the stairs to the Defense Corridor, how he hated this place. His jealousy consumed him every time he was here, he not only wanted this job, he craved it. Over everything else, this was what he desired. As he turned to corner into the hallway he saw Persephone coming down the stairs, she seemed to have been upset about something. _Perfect timing._ He thought to himself as he went up to her, feigning an interest in her night he called out,

"Persephone! Oh I was so worried! Are you alright?" His words were drenched with malice and licentiousness, she blinked at him, caught in the spotlight.

"I'm fine Severus I'm just tired." She said hurriedly, moving to make her way past him, his arm stretched out and caught her. She didn't have the energy to fight with him right now, her meeting with Dumbledore had left her a bit frazzled.

"Let me pass, I don't feel like bothering myself with you right now."

"Well now that was harsh don't you think?" Persephone rolled her stormy grey eyes at him and gave an exasperated sigh,

"No, now move." When he didn't, she tried to move underneath his arms but he instead pinned her against the cold stone wall. The shock of this bold movement kept her in place, her pure curiosity wanted to see how far he would try and go with this so she waited for him to speak.

"Persephone, you know that I have always desired you, do you not?" He leaned in to kiss her and she pushed him away. His greasy head jerked back from the force of the push and he quickly raised a hand and slapped her,

"Don't you ever-" But what she should never do wasn't uttered because at that moment Persephone started pushing against him. His ugly face scrunched up around his hooked nose as he tried to hold her struggling hands secure. Because of her position against the wall she couldn't reach her wand or move her legs at all and one of his hands had found its way to her neck, choking her to gain control. He was surprisingly strong and though she had years of formal training, his adrenaline was pushing him over the edge and she could barely fight him. Her breath becoming short and his passions rising she finally took her head and butted it against that disgusting nose, causing him to howl in pain. Pulling away from her he clutched at her nose while she tried to regain her breath, he came in for another attack, but she was ready this time.

It wasn't necessary though because Remus, who had seen her hit him when he crested the stairs, came running to her aid. He put a body bind on Snape and kicked him in the nose, just to make sure it was broken, he then sent his Patronus (a wolf) to Dumbledore to tell him what had just happened. Persephone was gasping for air as he grabbed her and led her away towards her office to recuperate. Snape lay moaning in pain and embarrassment on the floor, attempting to silently curse Lupin.

When they arrived at Persephone's office Remus sat her down on her bed and got her comfortable. After making sure she was okay he went to attend to Snape, basically, this meant to torment him as much as possible before Dumbledore arrived. For Persephone's sake he tried to keep calm in front of her, but this was by far the most disgusting thing Snape had ever done and he could never be forgiven for it.

Back in the Defense office Persephone was trying to calm herself down, she drank the water Lupin had given her but she was too shaken up for it to have any effect on her. The days events were too heavy for her, Dumbledore dying, Kingsley hurt and Snape attacking her, it was just too much for her to handle right now. With taking over the Order on top of it all Persephone suddenly felt tired and distressed, drifting into an uneasy sleep.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Remus walked back down the hallway to where Snape lay writhing in pain, the Patronus was sure to have delivered it message by now. He didn't have much time to deliver a message of his own. Severus looked up in horror at the werewolf standing over his body with a look of utmost revenge on his face, Snape, although desperate to hide it, was terrified. Remus had never been a vengeful man but this disgusted him beyond all thought, he had never hated Snape more in his life than he did at this moment. Remus partly blamed Snape for James and Lily's deaths and he knew that Harry was miserable because of him. All Remus wanted was to cause him as much pain as he could before someone came along the corridor. Luckily, with the Quidditch match going on outside Remus had a good few moments to enjoy this.

He bent down low over Snapes still locked up body and took his middle and index fingers to his nose, scrunching the broken bone with all his strength. Snape screamed and howled in pain, Remus bent down and taking Snapes wand from his pocket proceeded to throw it down the stairs and out of reach, he then released Snape from the body bind.

"Severus, what the hell were you thinking?" It was really more of a statement than a question but Snape rolled into a crouching position, still holding his nose, "It's none of your business Lupin!" He spat, his fear encroaching into his words.

"Oh but you see Snivellus, it IS my business. You just attacked my best friends love, and that is unforgivable." Snape snorted,

"What is that some gateway statement into using an unforgivable curse on me? Or is the little puppy to afraid to use them?" They heard Dumbledore and others racing up the stairs so Lupin made this quick.

"Consider this a warning. Watch your back."

"Are you threatening me Lupin? So uncharacteristic for you." Snape was gaining confidence, knowing that Dumbledore was getting closer. Lupin shook his head,

"It's not a threat, it's a fact." At that moment Dumbledore reached the top of the stairs, followed by Madam Pomfrey, Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick. Dumbledore surveyed the scene, Lupins bloody hands and Severus's bloody face, ultimately sending Snape to the hospital wing so that he could be questioned while they cleaned him up. Lupin watched them take him away and as soon as they were out of sight he headed directly towards Sirius's cave to report to him the news.

&&&&&&&&&&

Dumbledore followed the small party off to the Hospital Wing, he was furious but he didn't know what to do. No judgment's could be passed before he heard both stories, he knew that the animosity between the men could cloud their sides of it but once he talked to Persephone he would be able to hand something down. But fortunately for him, both ends of the spectrum wouldn't be needed after this little interview.

Snape sat on a bed holding his wand tightly in his hand (he had retrieved it when they went down the stairs), his other hand trying to stop the blood flow. Dumbledore circled around the bed while Madam Pomfrey mopped him up.

"Severus, you know that I have always put my complete trust in you so I am going to need you to tell me what just happened. Do not lie, for this may be the last thing you say as a trusted Order Member. Choose your words wisely." Snape looked around the room, Flitwicks usually cheery face had turned beet red and McGonagalls eyebrows had narrowed so much that they both melded into a vertical line on her forehead. Dumbledore was angrily pacing and Madam Pomfrey was not using as much care as usual in healing him. When she reset his nose he spoke,

"We met each other in the hallway and she tried to kiss me. Lupin saw it and went into a jealous rage then he hit me and cursed me, since we are supposed to trust each other, I refused to strike back at him." McGonagall scoffed, Flitwick shook his head and Dumbledore stopped pacing, "How did you make it as a spy all these years if THAT is the quickest lie you can come up with?" Snape's eyes darted around the room, looking for support. When all that was returned to him was glowering stares, he made a rash decision.

Suddenly, Snapes arms threw off Madam Pomfrey, knocking her over and into a tray of supplies. Dumbledore tried to grab his wand but the quick movement caused his wrist to lock up and not move as fast. This split second was all Snape needed, he conjured his Patronus and sent the large silvery serpent to wrap around Dumbledore's neck. He disarmed McGonagall and Flitwick and went running out the doors to seek refuge at the Marvolo Manor.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Later on that night the Order held a meeting at Grimmauld Place to discuss what to do about Snape and his miraculous escape. Persephone sat stealthily in a chair at the edge of the big long meeting table, she hated this place and why she was here. The others talked about the incident today with almost hushed voices, as if if they didn't say it loudly, she wouldn't be upset. But the truth was that she was more upset about everything else than about Snape. Whatever The Order decided all she had to do was tell Voldemort and Snape was dead within an hour. McGonagall's voice rose above the whispers,

"Well he needs to be taken care of. He knows too much about us and now, being outcast from us he will have no other choice but to join He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named to protect himself." Dumbledore interjected,

"I want to know what Persephone thinks we should do." She raised her head, Lupin was standing above her, protective hands upon her shoulders. She thought about it for a moment, "I'll take care of it." she replied coolly. Mad-Eye Moody chuckled,

"What, like you took care of Peter?" Persephone looked at him with an icy stare, "If that's what it takes than yes." Right at that moment the doorbell rang and Mrs. Black started to screech. Remus ran to cover her up while Mad-Eye went to open the door. A few moments later Tonks stumbled into the room, her breath short as if she had just run a mile and her clothes sopping wet from the rainstorm outside.

"Snape-dead!" she panted out. Lupin helped her into a chair and she heavily breathed out the rest of her news. "The Ministry - just found him - in a ditch - near Surrey, - he had been beaten pretty badly but - he was killed by - Avada Kedavra. - There is no sign as to who did it." When questioned farther, Tonks said that his face was almost unrecognizable because it had been beaten to a bloody pulp, his shoulder was dislocated and it looked as though he had vomited during this torture. Probably due to extensive use of the Avada Kedavra curse.

Mad-Eye Moody glanced around the room, "Well that ends that."

&&&&&&&&&&&&

Sirius stepped back inside his cave home and went to the makeshift sink standing in the corner. The water ran red from the blood he was washing off and it took him hours to clean the rest of the blood and vomit off of his clothes. "_I cant believe he threw up after a few minutes of the cruciatus curse_," he thought to himself, before falling into a very deep and peaceful sleep.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Persephone sat in her chambers staring out the window towards the moonlit lake, contemplating his death. She felt no remorse for it, he was an awful man who deserved what he got but still.

It was curious, why would anyone have decided that that day of all days was the one to kill him? Voldemort couldn't have possible known yet and the only Order Members who knew about it at that time were not capable of cold blooded and gruesome murder. Remus was passionate, but he could never torture someone, at least she thought so. It was curious, very curious. But then her thoughts turned to Dumbledore and silent tears crept into her eyes, blocking her vision of the squid swimming his way across the lake. She sniffed, and all the thoughts of the past year came to her. Being in that house tonight hadn't been good for her, Dumbledore, Sirius and Snape. Her world was upside down and she could do nothing to stop it. She was subconsciously changing and she was subconsciously fighting it. She felt that if only she could stay that same person, if only she could make herself believe then everything could be good again. Someone cleared their throat and she spun around to see Lupin standing in the shadows behind her.

He saw her tears and immediately went to her side, kneeling next to the chair he took her hand in his. Using his other to wipe the tears off her cheek, she smiled, ashamed at her crying. He smiled too. She leaned towards him and their lips touched, Remus, earlier in his life might not have fought it, but his loyalty to his friend caused him to recoil. And something else was pulling him away, why did he suddenly think of Tonks? Persephone pulled away, standing and facing the window, her arms crossed in front of her. She was obviously embarrassed and he made to speak,

"I'm sorry Persephone but I - I…" she just shook her head.

"No, you don't have to explain. I shouldn't have done that." Remus shook his head,

"No, I understand. With him being gone so long you needed some kind of companionsh-" She cut him off, "No really, you, you don't have to explain."

**To Be Continued…**

Next Time: Harry confronts Persephone about her past and we get to read about her first "lesson" with Dumbles.- yay!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own 99 of these characters. Just Persephone, Amycus, and anyone else I am forgetting.

Like/Dislike: Comment!


	12. Desmond

**Review Responses:**

Kurama: I am also very happy that Snape is dead, bastard. Ha ha

Peyton: Sorry, but he was floating around and I was tired of having to think of ways to pull him in. Go draw pictures of him or something. EEW

**Chapter 12: Desmond**

Harry and his friends woke on Monday morning for their classes. They were in uplifting moods seeing as how Ravenclaw had sufficiently slaughtered Slytherin in the match yesterday and that Draco Malfoy was currently walking around the castle moping and whining to his girlfriend Lisa. Harry was still troubled about the discovery about Professor Parker, but because of Sirius, he was slow to pass judgment against her. He needed solid proof that she had been a Death Eater, the Ministry had made errors before, of all people, he understood that better than anyone.

The trio sat down for breakfast and began to dig into their eggs and bacon, Hermione watched for her newspaper while Harry glanced up at the head table, searching for Professor Parker. She wasn't there, but neither were Snape, Dumbledore or McGonagall. There was a new addition to the faces up there, a young man with shaggy brown hair and bright blue eyes sat eating his toast a bit uncomforetably. Almost every girls face was turned staring at him because he was so handsome and Harry was sure that the man found it a bit unnerving. Harry tapped Ron's elbow with his own,

"Hey, who do ya think that is?" Ron shrugged, coming up for air from his plate he replied,

" I don't know. Maybe there was a substitute needed for some other teacher?" As soon as he was finished he bent down low over his food once more. Harry looked around the rest of the Great Hall, people were running to and fro, using whispered voices and holding up the newspaper. Hermione was annoyed,

"My Daily Prophet hasn't gotten here yet." Harry wouldn't have been surprised if someone had just taken her copy, what was going on? Harry stuffed some toast into his mouth and left the couple alone, wanting to talk to Proffessor Parker before class started he grabbed his bag and walked away. She would know what was happening.

A few minutes later Harry walked into an empty defense classroom, Professor Parker was no where to be seen. He debated going to her office to find her but thought better of it, she was sure to be there soon. Harry waited and before long the other students began filing into the room, none of them would look at Harry. _That's odd_, he thought to himself as yet another student avoided eye contact with him. The Slytherins filed past and gave him dirty looks one even whispering, "You happy now?" Harry was anxious, _What was going on?_ Hermione came bustling into the room holding a copy of her finally delivered Daily Prophet, waving it at him. She was half way to him when the door opened once more and Remus Lupin walked inside,

"Please take your seats everyone. For those of you who do not know me I am your substitute Professor R.J. Lupin, Professor Parker is out for the day taking care of some business." All the students who remembered Professor Lupin were excited to see him, with the obvious exception of the Slytherins, everyone wanted to talk to him. Harry took this opportunity to snatch away Hermione's newspaper, glancing at the headline, he gasped,

_HOGWARTS PROFESSOR FOUND MURDERED!_

_Last night, Ministry officials came upon the body of one Professor Severus Snape of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The cause of death is being labeled as unforgivable but officials are investigating into the surprising twist in the case._

_William Brown of the crime squad had this to say, "The body of Mr. Snape was found bloody, beaten and tortured. This was no execution, this was a torture case." _

_Since Mr. Snape was close to Albus Dumbledore the obvious choice of suspects would be the Death Eaters but another interesting twist revealed specifically to the Prophet was that the body was discovered to have a Dark Mark. Court Records show the Mr. Snape was questioned years ago about his affiliation with the Death Eaters and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore vouched for him in court and he was let off of the charges. But his gruesome murder opens the door to more questions and concerns about Mr. Snapes activities. _

"_I trusted Severus Snape and the situation has caused much grief here at Hogwarts. We hope one day to move past this terrible occurrence and see the light of good that Mr. Snape was doing for us and the rest of the world. The students are devastated." Said Mr. Dumbledore late last night. _

_The students are being offered grief counseling in the wake of this terrible tragedy while investigators probe into the horrid death of this Professor._

_For more on this story turn to page 4_

Harry put down the newspaper, shell-shocked and looked at Hermione, the Slytherins were still staring at him with an unadulterated hatred upon their faces. Hermione and Ron stood there looking at him as if they were waiting for an explanation,

" I don't know anything! I swear!" Hermione nodded and Ron looked perfectly satisfied but Harry was not, _Snape dead. But how?_

Harry couldn't concentrate during class, many of the other students were happily listening to Lupin talk but Harry's mind was somewhere else. He anxiously awaited the bells ringing so that he could talk to Remus about yesterdays events. The clock ticked slowly and Harry began to wonder where Professor Parker was, who was the new heartthrob on the faculty? What did Remus know about Snapes death? Who killed him?

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Remus Lupin walked into the mountain cave holding a newspaper and a wrapped up turkey sandwich, both of which he threw at Sirius, who was still soundly asleep on the bed. Sirius woke with a start, "Whassamater!" he asked before noticing Remus and the sandwich.

"You made the front page again." Lupin replied casually, acknowledging the newspaper on his bed. Sirius, halfway through a bite of the turkey picked up the Daily Prophet and gave a stoic look,

"I don't know what you're talking about." Remus rolled his eyes,

" Don't lie, we all know it was you. Not that I was saddened by the news mind you, just that it was a bit sudden. Harry was asking questions, seems to think it's the work of the Order."

Sirius nodded, "Smart boy, what did you tell him?" Remus sat down on the solitary chair in the corner, "I told him that he would have to ask Dumbledore and then I got out of there as soon as I could."

Sirius laughed at him while he finished his meal, "Who did they get to replace Snape?" he asked.

"A guy from Ireland, named Desmond I think, around our age."

"How is Persephone doing?" Remus sighed,

"I had to teach her class today because she is trying to fix the problem you created by killing Snape. Apparently Voldemort had learned of a spy in his inner circle, now we know that it was either Snape or Persephone but he didn't know that. So by killing Snape she has to convince Voldemort that it was him who was the spy. I'm not sure how she's going to accomplish this but she can figure it out."

Sirius gulped, "Oh My God, I didn't mean for that to happen." he said apologetically before a worried expression came over his gorgeus face.

"She'll be alright, she always is."

&&&&&&&&&&&

Persephone returned to the castle after first period, her face bruised and swollen. She had had to take the blame for Snape's death, saying he was a mole for the other side she had had no choice but to kill him before he told the Order of her being a spy as well. Voldemort had been very angry and he had smacked her around a bit before he let her leave, in the end, her plan worked and although he was mad, he wasn't suspicious. So the meeting was ultimately successful. Persephone headed directly to the hospital wing and was disappointed to learn that Madam Pomfrey couldn't do anything for her bruises. Persephone left the wing with a salve covering her face, 5 minutes and her appearance should be back to somewhat normal.

She walked up the stairs to her office to change before her class, but as she crested the stairs she ran smack dab into a young man coming down carrying a large arm full of books. The books went flying and the pair tumbled onto the floor, falling all over each other.

"Ouch!"

"Damnit!"

"I am so sorry, here let me help ye!" Persephone finally looked at the man holding out his hand to her, he was still on the floor, covered just as she was. He had a large amount of brown hair on top of his head, his smile was perfectly white and he had the most amazing blue eyes she had ever seen. His clothes were muggle, like hers, he wore jeans and a black sweater that complimented his slightly tanned skin.

Her hand went to her head as she motioned at the mess on the floor, "Well it might be hard to help me up when you're just as stuck as I am." he glanced around and laughed, "Yea I guess you're right." She smiled and they're eyes met, practically sending an electric shock through Persephone. She cast a spell and all the books went flying back into their piles, he then stood and offered her his hand to help. When their skin touched Persephone felt a small, but good jumping sensation in the pit of her stomach. He felt it too and he smiled that brilliant smile at her,

"My names Desmond Blake. I'm the new Potions Professor here." He spoke with a thick Irish accent.

She smiled back at him, "I'm Persephone Parker. Defense Against the Dark Arts." He frowned when he saw the bruises on her face, "May I ask wha' happened?" she shrugged it off with a joke, "Oh just an occupational hazard teaching defense." He laughed before another bell sounded, reminding them that they had to be teaching their classes in one minute. Persephone regretted leaving him but she played it coyly and walked past him,

"Your names backwards." she whispered, he smiled and watched her retreat down the hallway.

&&&&&&&&&&&

Harry sat in Potions not knowing what to expect, the Slytherins were glaring at him ferociously as if waiting for him to let his guard down so they might attack him. Ron and Hermione sat protectively on either side of him as he sulked into his book bag on the table. The door to the dungeon opened a few minutes after the bell rang and in walked the handsome man that Harry had seen at breakfast. There was a collective deep breath from the girls when he walked in. This included Hermione, Ron leaned over the table and cleared his throat at her, loudly.

"Hello class. My name is Professor Blake and I will be taking over this class due to the tragic situation that we find ourselves in." The Slytherins shifted angrily in their seats, he continued on, "I am 36, from Wales and I have been a Potions Master for 12 years and I hope that we can move past what happened and have a good year." He then went and wrote down all necessary ingredients on the black board and asked them to show him what they could do. For the next hour he walked around helping students (The girls seemed to suddenly forget how to do every little thing, so he spent most of his time with them.) He never stopped smiling the whole time, thinking of the lovely Professor he had just knocked over upstairs.

Harry liked Professor Blake, he was a good teacher, no question went unanswered and even Hermione didn't have a single complaint about his methods. At the end of the period he asked them about the potion and its uses, where to find the ingredients needed in the wild and most importantly when it should be used against or on someone. He assigned a short paper on how to make the potion and the students went up to their common rooms.

Desmond watched the students file out and as soon as they were gone, he bolted up to the Defense office, thinking of a good reason to be there while en route.

Persephone was in the shower, after an intense muggle combat training session with some of her fourth years she was drenched in perspiration. A knock came on her door and thinking it was Remus she called out for the person to just come in.

"Hello?" came a masculine voice that was not Remus, but Desmond. Her eyes opened wide in surprise, even though she was in another room the situation was still embarrassing.

"Oh! I didn't know it was you Professor Blake, I'm sorry, just give me a moment." she rinsed off quickly before stepping out to get a towel.

"Take your time." He replied as he looked about the small well lit room, the couch was a cream color as was pretty much everything else. There were specks of gold everywhere, it was elegant, but it was boring. 2 minutes later Persephone stepped out of her bathroom in a pair of loose fitting black pants and a white wife beater, drying her damp hair with her hands and a small towel. Desmond blushed,

" I really am sorry, I didn't mean to burst in here." She shook her head,

"Don't worry about it. Is there anything I can help you with?" She asked, taking out her wand and immediately drying her hair. Desmond thought as quickly as he could,

"I… Umm… I don't really know where everything is around here. Could you give me a tour?" Persephone smiled,

"Yea sure. Give me a minute." she retreated back into her closet and came out with her luxurious black velvet cloak covering her and the pair left to walk the grounds. While outside Desmond showed his amazement at how the flowers on the grounds were still luminous and beautiful. He stood by a rose bush and picked one, as soon as he picked it, the flower shriveled up and died in his hand. Its petals black and charred. Persephone walked over to him,

"Dumbledore put enchantments on the flowers after I told him of my theory about giving flowers to those you love. They cant die unless someone picks them." Desmond gave a strange look,

"What's wrong with giving flowers to someone you love?"

"Well," Persephone started, " I don't understand how something that dies so quickly can be a romantic symbol of love. It's kind of depressing don't you think?"

"I never thought abo' it, I guess your right."

She showed him all the hallways in the castle and what secret passageways she knew, the hospital wing, the kitchens and the entrance to Dumbledore's office before their polite conversation turned to their family life.

"My Mother, is back in County Kerry with ma' three brothers. What about your family?" he asked. Persephone sighed,

"I never knew my Father, he walked out on us when I was just a baby. My Mother was heartbroken and distant for the rest of her life. My brothers, Liam and Aedan they basically raised me but they died in a freak accident when I was 17. It hurt too much to stay in America so I put in a work transfer to come here 15 years ago."

"You were a teacher there?"

"No, I worked in…" for a moment Persephone was going to say government, but that could raise questions, " … as a secretary for the American Ministry. That didn't last long."

"But I thought this was your first year teaching. What have you been doing all this time?" _Damnit Persephone,_ she thought to herself, _I cant let myself keep slipping up like this. What kind of strange affect does he have on me? He is undeniably gorgeus, sweet, witty and kind. But I cant be feeling things like this. Can I? It HAD been almost six months since Sirius died. It felt like so much longer._

"Oh nothing really." she responded lightly.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

By the morning of December 25th there had been many more walks on the grounds and the pair had even begun taking their meals together. Dumbledore had had a training session with Persephone and he was confident in her abilities to take control, he had yet to tell Minerva of his impending death but he knew time was dwindling down.

The castle was abuzz with activity, couple walked hand in hand to classes and teachers had constant smiles upon their faces knowing that soon some of the students would be going home for the holidays. Draco Malfoy had taken to leading Lisa around as a showpiece for the fabulous necklace he had just bought her for Christmas. Ron and Hermione were more affectionate than ever and Harry had finally begun dating Ginny Weasley. Persephone missed Sirius most now but she was finding comfort with talking to Desmond. She knew that she had to keep her guard up around new people but she couldn't help trusting him, especially after Dumbledore vouched for him and she ran a background check herself.

What could she say? She was cynical.

On Christmas morning Remus showed up at Persephone's quarters with a packaged wrapped in bright green wrapping paper and a box of Christmas crackers. He looked a bit ill seeing as how it was right after the full moon he was still trying to recover. She was thrilled to see him and was smiling ear to ear, it had been almost a month since she had seen him and she missed him dearly. She took out her gift for him, (a new full length traveling cloak) and opened his. He had gone the same route, giving her a beautifully white knitted hat and scarf, she loved it.

Remus laughed at her larger pile of gifts from her students (mainly males) that had been accumulating all morning. She had more chocolate box sets than she knew what to do with. Most of the morning the two of them sat there talking of news and current events, laughing and joking until a knock came on the door. Persephone answered it to see a house elf standing in her doorway with a medium sized red box extended from his hands.

"From Professor Blake ma'am!" He squeaked before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

Persephone brought the package to the table and pulled on the red ribbons while Remus watched curiously from his chair. Opening the box she found a bouquet of red roses, all alive and glorius, the note read,

_I hope that one day you can use this as an acceptable symbol for your love._

_Desmond_

"Who's Desmond?" Remus asked as he leaned over the table reading the note and biting into a piece of chocolate.

"He's the new Professor here, we've become great friends, he's wonderful to talk to when you're not around." she said with the hint of a laugh in her voice remembering their conversation on the grounds about the flowers. Remus became a bit uncomfortable.

"Are you… dating him?"

"No!" She replied indignantly, "We're just friends Remus. Why do you ask? It's not like its going to make Sirius jealous now is it?"

"_Oh I can bet it will", Remus thought to himself before saying, " I know that but… but…" he honestly couldn't say any reason that she couldn't or shouldn't without telling her the truth, "Its' only been about 6 months."_

"Almost seven, and besides, I spent the better part of our relationship away from him. Then I spent it having to hide it, I'm tired of waiting. Life is too short. I want some frickin happiness, I think I deserve it." The air in the room had now become heavy and awkward, both knowing what the other would say they chose instead to sit in silence.

Its not that Persephone didn't love Sirius, she loved him desperately, but she had to try and live her life again. How long was she supposed to sit in mourning? She had been grieving for him since they went into prison, their time spent together last year only seemed like a dream. She was so tired of waiting and of hoping, especially when she knew nothing could come of her tears.

To Be Continued….

**Next Time: Plans are put in motion to transfer power, but I'm gonna let Persephone be happy for awhile, she does deserve it.**

**Like/Hate? What about Desmond? Hope you like him!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, except for Persephone, Desmond or anyone else that did not appear in the books. So don't touch them!**


	13. Dumbledore, The Devil and The Dog

**Review Responses:**

Peyton: Sorry but Sirius wont be back in her life for a little while, and I agree, for me personally it would be Sirius (but we all knew that) but Persephone wants someone who isn't such a fighter right now. She has been with Sirius and Voldemort for like 15 years- can we say power trip? Oh yes we can

Oz: No worries, the confrontation is coming but it is going to be a bit different. And I am glad that you like Desmond, he is not sappy, he is just calm and not as intense as Sirius is. (Intensity is HOT) But don't worry about that either, he really is kick ass, just wait and see.

Kurama: I LOVE LOVE LOVE that review, constructive. And Dumbles is doing it for a good reason and she will learn to understand that soon enough.

All Readers: Yes I had just finished watching LOST when I made up Desmond. If anyone gets that, they win a cookie.

**Chapter 13: Dumbledore, The Devil and The Dog**

It was January 4th and the first day back in classes, Harry had returned from the Weasley's convinced to talk to Professor Parker about her past. Even if he was scared to death of her response to it.

Persephone had been avoiding Desmond, a guilty conscience plagued her whenever she thought about him, which was often. She could also tell from recent meetings that Dumbledore was rapidly deteriorating, Death was at his door rapping loudly with his hoe.

Desmond was nervous about Persephone's attitude towards him lately, he hoped that he hadn't scared her off, he could tell that she had just come off of something big, even though she wouldn't tell him what.

Sirius was ordered out on a mission in France to intercept MacNair and take care of him, Lupin was deep within Fenrir Greybacks Order and out of reach to everyone.

Hermione and Ron were fighting, again. Apparently Ron thought that Hermione's recent correspondence with Viktor Krum showed a lack of fidelity on her part and she thought Ron was stupid. Simple as that.

And so life went on in Hogwarts, classes started at 9 and the castle fell quiet as a mouse, and cold as an icebox.

The students in The Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom were not worried about the cold though, the heat of the room was threatening to collapse upon them. They had a Semester Final with Professor Parker and she had chosen what else? Dueling. If the student could show an acceptable improvement to her they passed, if they failed dismally, well, they failed.

Persephone was on her 10th student of the period, the others were already sweating like pigs despite the snow outside the window but she had only a small line of moisture on her brow. Overall she was pleased with the students improvements over the first semester of her teaching, many of the students who had been beaten quickly had managed to hold on long enough to put up a real fight. That was all she really needed for them, to put up a good fight. When Draco Malfoy entered the room with his usual swagger the two went into Dueling Stance but he was quickly defeated, with him laying on the ground she walked over to him and pronounced to the class, "Your arrogance will be your downfall Mr. Malfoy."

Harry came in right after Malfoy and had the most ferocious duel in the class, it was to be expected but Persephone chose to raise the level on him. Before she had been fending them off, but now, she was attacking. Not with full force, because she could kill him when she got into true combat mode, it was like she couldn't control herself, but she gave him enough to make it truly challenging for him.

_The last few students were a great disappointment, they were so nervous that she defeated them without a second thought. Becoming hostile and aggressive in her dueling mode she gave the students an angry look and went to her fireplace. Her eyes were dark and foreboding._

"_I am going to show you children a fight!" She grabbed a handful of Floo Powder and tossed it into the fire, she screamed into the flames, _

"_Blake! Bring your wand!" A few moments later, the Irishman came through the flames holding his long wand in his right hand. "Dueling stance!" _

_Desmond's eyes darted around the room looking for a hint as to what was going on. Harry made a nervous face towards him, Professor Parker seemed to have lost control of her aggression. Desmond walked into the middle of the room and faced her with his wand at the ready. But before he knew it she sent a spell flying at him which he barely blocked, something was happening to her and Desmond had to find out what it was. He tried to stun her, but she was too quick. Their wands flew in almost a sword fighting fashion, spells moving so fast that the students looking on had frightened expressions on their young faces. Desmond could take her on, it was clear who the winner would eventually be, but the man could fight._

Dumbledore woke from his dream and shook his head into his hands. It was true that Persephone had the children duel her, she had been on the edge of losing control but in the end she stopped herself, this dream was what he feared would come. He was slowly transferring many of his powers to her without her even knowing it, this is why she was so unpredictable in that class. He had to meet with her more often if he was to leave this war in her hands, Dumbledore knew his death was close. He could feel it.

He sighed and leaned back in his chair, the papers he had been working on were left on his desk. Ink smeared everywhere.

The Headmaster was waiting for his appointment to arrive, there were things that needed to be discussed. A knock came on the door,

"Sir?" It was Remus Lupin, his appointment had finally arrived and he was drenched in rain water. The storm crackled outside as the werewolf took his seat before the roaring fire. Lupin took out his wand and began to dry off his new traveling cloak while he waited for Dumbledore to speak. He started,

"Remus, I need you to be prepared to do something for me." Remus shrugged,

"Isn't that what we have all been doing for close to 20 years?" Dumbledore gave a grave smile,

"I am dying and I am appointing Persephone to take over the Order." He allowed a moment for the words to sink in and Remus to ask the usual questions which he then quickly answered before he went on.

"When my death does come I want you to gather every member of the Order to Grimmauld Place. And I do mean EVERY member."

The werewolf just nodded.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

_The Night of Snape's Death_

In the ancestral home of Tom Riddle, Voldemort sat at his own desk, his head in his hands in front of another roaring fire. He was looking at his own spy reports and thinking pensively to himself. Having just received the news of Severus's death he found himself to be in an awkward situation, although he still had a spy in Dumbledore's inner circle, Voldemort was not sure if he could truly trust her. Snape's death had been far too convenient and her explanation to choreographed.

It was late at night and he was sitting in the office that lay next to his bedroom, he had left Persephone in the bed, fast asleep. He didn't trust her, but he still found her body to be quite useful. A knock came at his door and he swung it open with a flick of his wand,

"My Lord?" the hooded figure asked before walking in front of the desk and giving a low bow. Voldemort looked up at him,

"Take that hood and mask off when you address me Mr. Blake." The Death Eater obliged and took off the tall hood and skeleton mask, revealing his brown hair and blue eyes. He waited for his master to speak.

Voldemort lifted his head from his pale hands and offered the man a seat, this courtesy was a good sign for a Death Eater. Voldemorts respect meant everything to them. Desmond sat down and leaned back, his comfortable manner didn't offend Voldemort in the slightest. The Master spoke,

"I have an important job for you to do." Desmond nodded and waited expectantly for his instructions. "Today my top spy was discovered murdered. I have been given an explanation as to why but I am not sure if I believe it." Desmond nodded his head in understanding. "Your job is not to find out who did it, for I believe I know that already. But I want you to get the teaching position at Hogwarts that has been left open by Snapes death, then get to know and get information out of the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

"My Lord, your wish is my command. But how do you want me to get close to them with Dumbledore hovering over me?"

"She is vulnerable and he, is weakening. I can sense it, he's falling down on the job as you could say. Why do you think I had 2 spies inside his castle walls that he never even knew about? The old coot actually is slipping up, and she, she is a wreck." Desmond gave a smile of appreciation, "Sounds good." Voldemort grinned,

"Follow me quietly, and I will show you what she looks like." The pair of Dark Wizards went through the door into Voldemorts bedroom, Desmond stared at the woman lying there, her head resting on her arm. "Stunning." He said softly before they both exited.

Desmond made ready to leave but before he did Voldemort gave him a small warning, "Don't kill her unless you are absolutely sure she isn't loyal to me. Because if she is she is still a nice piece of ass." Desmond nodded and turned towards the door. "Oh and one more thing."

"What's that My Lord?"

"Try not to fuck her."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

_Present time_

Sirius returned from France with blood on his hands, choosing to kill MacNair the Muggle way so as to not attract attention, he again came into his cave home to wash it off. Remus was waiting for him in a large comfortable chair reading a book and smoking his pipe,

"You have a problem." he said to Sirius.

He chuckled, "Well of course I do. I have many, but please, tell me the new one."

Remus didn't laugh, "I debated whether to tell you this or not because I don't know how you will handle it and it might not even be really significant." He was sounding nervous and Sirius could tell something was wrong.

"My friend, what is it?" Remus shook his head, Sirius never said 'my friend' unless he was anxious.

"Persephone, seems to have met someone." Sirius' face fell completely at these words, "Who?" he asked almost desperately.

"The Irishmen, Desmond Blake, teaches potions now." Sirius braced himself on the sides of the sink with his large hands.

"What do I do?"

Remus sighed, "What can you do? You're dead remember?" Sirius tried to catch his breath as Remus went on, "But I can tell you, it wont be long until you can see her."

"The war is almost over then?" he sounded hopeful.

"No, but our leader is almost done for." Sirius didn't even care, he was so hurt by the first bit of news he had almost stopped listening. Remus continued,

"I know of one thing you could do that wouldn't involve killing him, and don't even act like you weren't thinking it." Sirius would have argued but Remus was right.

"I don't trust this guy, I met him once and he seemed off to me. I also heard Fenrir talking about someone named Blake." Sirius picked up his head and glanced at Remus, wondering if he was going where he thought he was. " I think you should follow him. Send clues to her if he is a bad guy but if not, let her be happy for awhile. Please Sirius she needs this."

Sirius grabbed his cloak and headed for the door once more,

"I'll find out what he's doing and I'll make damn sure she knows about it."

_To Be Continued…_

**Note- No I didn't finish this quick because I wanted to read "The Stars Cry the Blackest Tears," I just finished it. So there.**

**COMMENT!**

**Disclaimer: I aint saying it again.**


	14. Forest Fires

**First Off: Gotcha! Muhahahahahaha!**

**Review Responses:**

Oz: "I knew it! I fucking knew it! Slimy little git!" that made me laugh out loud! I almost cried, it was brilliant. And Sirius is not an idiot, don't insult my pretend husband please! Now would I do that to you? Probably. Look for a Zeugma!

Peyton: Silly Momo, hoes are for wheat.

**Chapter 14: Forest Fires**

After class Harry watched Professor Parker leave once more, cursing himself for his coward ness he stepped out into the hallway to go to potions. Ron and Hermione walked next to him, angry and suspicious of each other, Harry laughed at the two of them.

"You guys spend more time being mad at one another than being happy with the relationship. Do either of you see anything wrong with that?" Hermione gave him a glare,

"Well Harry, what would you know about dating? I don't think that handing Cho tissues counts as a relationship!" she shouted before heading off to the dungeons in a storm.

"Oh Lord, what did you do now?" Ron joked as he watched her go. "You know Hermione man, she, she tends to, umm…"

"Over react?" Harry guessed. Ron laughed and nodded his head furiously at him.

The pair walked into the chilly potions classroom and noticed Hermione sitting at a desk with Padma Patil. Ron and Harry sat down and waited for Professor Blake to show up and begin the lesson. Ron glanced over his shoulder and looked at Hermione's table, Padma looked thrilled just to be in this class, her head was on her hand as she gazed at the door expectantly. Hermione looked disgusted.

A few minutes later Professor Blake entered the room and greeted them with a friendly hello. The girls all smiled and perked up in their chairs, waiting to be called upon for a question to answer. Blake, sat down on his desk and stared out at the class.

"Can anyone of you tell me what the 'Le breuvage magique de la destruction' is or does?" Every girl in the class raised their hands excitedly, hoping to be chosen, Lisa, who sat in the front row was picked to give the answer. She beamed, Draco looked murderously towards Blake.

"It is a potion that causes absolute obliteration of a persons heart, not physically, but mentally. They feel almost as though no one can ever reach them or understand them, it basically destroys their ability to love."

"Correct! Very nice work." Lisa looked smug. Professor Blake turned his back to the class to write some notes on the board for them to copy. As he wrote he spoke to the class, "This potion, was ironically, invented by the French to mentally destroy their wartime opponents, if they had any." He smiled and turned back to them, smiling, "Le Français est vraiment une belle langue. Je l'aime et j'aime la guerre encore plus." The girls all swooned at his French, even though not a single person in the room understood a word he said. Ron looked at Harry and rolled his eyes., "What is it with this guy?"

"No clue." he replied, shaking his head. As Professor Blake wrote the ingredients on the board Harry and Ron continued their conversation about how even though Blake was smart, nice, attractive, worldly and funny, he wasn't really all that great. The two of them laughed about it and made their potions together. A few minutes of work later Ron leaned over to Harry and asked, "Hey, when are you gonna talk to Parker?" Harry shrugged, "Soon I guess, its not like I'm in any hurry."

Ron chuckled, "No, you're scared to death that she'll kill you."

"That too. But really Ron, what else has she done besides seem a little suspicious? I just want to be sure of something before I go accusing her of lying or something worse, like I did in The Shrieking Shack. It was humiliating. Besides, there's something about her that I cant help but trust." Ron shook his head,

"Who cares if it was humiliating? If she is a Death-" Ron paused because right at that moment Professor Blake walked past their table with a nonchalant look upon his Black Irish face. It was obvious he had been listening, but for how long? They waited until he left them before Ron continued, "Well Harry, there is some weird stuff going on here. That guy, for example" he said nodding towards Professor Blake, "seems downright shady to me. And Parker, how could you forget her little smooch with Voldemort?"

Harry nodded and resolved to talk to Professor Parker right after lunch, even though he made it clear to Ron that he believed in her. Professor Blake looked on surreptitiously from behind his desk. At the end of the period he left the confines of his table to once more walk among the students and this time, pass out papers on a strengthening potion they had done about a week ago. When he passed Harry, he gave him a strange look before handing him the paper and going on with his business. Harry was shocked,

"A D?" he asked incredulously. "But how? I don't understand." The bell rang and Hermione walked over to their table, proudly displaying the "T" she had achieved. Harry was angry, he had worked hard on this paper. What did this Blake guy have against him anyway?

&&&&&&&&&&&&

After his class let out Desmond pulled on his cloak and went in a hurry towards the front doors to a secluded spot right beside the forbidden forest. Although it was near to noon, the clearing was dark and eerie, the trees giving the grounds a haunting look. Desmond, clad in his black cloak and skull mask bent down towards the frozen earth, hitting his knees in silence on the twigs and ice.

Looking over his shoulders to ensure that no one was there Desmond pulled his wand from his pocket and lit a large fire. The light from the blue flames lit his face and made him appear if possible, even more sinister than the skull and cloak alone. Desmond pulled the sleeve up on his arm and held it to the heat, the snake began to squirm trying to get away from the fire. In a booming voice, Desmond pointed his wand at the symbol and said, "My Lord I call upon the majesty of your face and wisdom! I call you now!" The snake on his arm seem to nip at the wand tip pointing at it before Desmond pulled it away, waiting for his masters call.

Within minutes the face of Voldemort appeared on the grounds of Hogwarts castle, right inside the fire that Desmond had conjured just minutes before.

"What news?" The head asked him. Desmond lowered his eyes in respect to his lord. The heavy cloak falling around his face, grazing his tanned cheeks.

"She is slipping, for which side I cannot tell yet. It is too soon to make a clear report. But even the students are suspicious of her, and not just the females anymore. Today I heard 2 boys speaking about the possibility of her being a Death Eater in one of my classes. As far as I can see from this position with her, she is with us."

Voldemort frowned and shook his head, he wasn't convinced.

"Tail her or get someone else to. I want to be absolutely sure before I take any action against her."

Desmond bowed once more in farewell before the flames died. He stood and removed his mask before taking out his wand to wipe away all evidence of his visit. As soon as he finished he went to the school to find his house elf Prisca.

He sat down in the large comfortable chair that used to reside in the quarters of Professor Snape. The fire was blazing so Desmond knew Prisca was close, he didn't know how to call her. He took a shot at it,

"Prisca?"

The personal house elf appeared in a flash before him and bowed her head low right down to the carpet. Desmond looked at the creature before him and he felt a tug at even his cold and blackened heart.

In Hogwarts all the teachers and special guests are granted a private house elf, all the staff members had one, even Filch. These elves were known as the elite of the house elf staff and in a sense, what all other elves worked towards to be. Prisca was an off pink color and her eyes were bright red, her loyalty to Snape had been strong enough to make her mourn for a long period of time. But not strong enough to be angry at his successor, she strived to please Desmond and no request he had was too big.

When she pulled her head up from the carpet Desmond gave a small grin,

"I have a job for you to do. And it must be kept secret. Understood?"

Prisca nodded enthusiastically and awaited her assignment.

&&&&&&&&&&&&

Harry sat in his herbology class and listened to his instructions from Professor Sprout, who was telling them about some plant from Africa that could eat your hand or something along those lines. Harry wasn't really paying any attention to her, but instead he was watching the forest, always looking at the thestrals flying around the grounds. It was an amusing past time, seeing as he was one of the few people who could do it.

Over the trees 2 thestrals sprang up and chased each other, nipping slightly at each others heals playfully. Harry smiled at their behavior, so uncharacteristic of them to act that way. Professor Sprout droned on and Harry turned his attention to the tree line, something caught his eye. A figure with dark hair was walking out of the trees holding a small bundle in his arms, it looked like a cloak. What was he doing out here?

Harry prodded the sleeping Ron in the shoulder to wake him up.

"Damn gnomes!" he screamed as he woke up. The entire class looked at him, "Sorry Professor." He mumbled before turning to Harry, "Mate, why did you wake me up? I was having a crazy dreams about those garden gnomes at my house."

"I could tell." He said, rolling his eyes. He used his quill to point to the man walking back from the forest, "Who do ya reckon?"

Ron squinted at the figure in the distance, "Oy! Harry, that's Professor Blake. What is that bloke doing out here at this time of the day?"

Harry shook his head, "No Ron, I think the better question is, what was he doing in the forest?"

"No clue, you wanna tail him tonight? We have nothing better to do, well, besides homework." He laughed but Harry's expression remained the same, thoughtful and suspicious as he watched Blake go into the castle.

"We need to have a little chat with Professor Dumbledore first."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Sirius Black hid in his dog form beneath a large log in the Dark Forest watching as Desmond Blake the Death Eater left the clearing. "That bastard," he thought to himself as he watched him go. Sirius was worried now, if Persephone couldn't see him coming they were all in trouble. Not only her, but Harry and Dumbledore as well. He needed to get the word out as soon as he could.

Leaving the safety of his hiding place, Sirius ran towards the Whomping Willow. As soon as he reached the cave he could send Persephone an unmarked warning. He prayed it wasn't too late.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The Headmaster was pacing in his office waiting for Persephone to show up so that they could continue with their lessons. A knock sounded on the door.

"Come in Persephone." he said and he went to sit down at his desk. The door opened and instead of Persephone, it was Harry coming through his door, soon followed by Ron.

"Harry." Dumbledore said, surprised. "What are you doing here?" The boy looked nervous about something, a bit fidgety also. He gave a small smile and went to sit down in one of the large chairs in front of Dumbledore's desk while Ron stayed back by the door. Albus knew he obviously needed to talk to him about something important so he did not protest the invasion of his study. He waited for Harry to speak first,

"Professor, I think that there might be a Death Eater on your staff."

"Or two." Interjected Ron from the corner, Harry shrugged and replied, "Perhaps."

Dumbledore was curious, Harry's hunches always had some merit to them so he figured he would listen to what he had to say.

"Please Harry, tell me more." Said Dumbledore as he also relaxed in his chair, his body ached and Harry hadn't seen him hurt before. Dumbledore would like to keep it that way. Harry started once more,

"Professor Blake seems off to me. Something about him just seems sneaky and suspicious." Dumbledore nodded his head,

"Well, Harry," he sighed, "I respect what your saying but I'm afraid you need more proof than that."

Harry looked up at him and the words burst forth, "We saw him coming out of the Forbidden Forest today during Herbology carrying what looked like a black cloak. He was creeping along, as if trying to remain unseen. It was strange."

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows, "Really Harry? You saw this?"

"Yes, I didn't know what else to do besides come to you. What are you going to do?"

"I am going to put Professor Parker on the job of finding out what he's doing."

Harry nodded in approval, but Ron's disapproving voice came from the walls. His arms were crossed and he was looking expectantly at Harry. He cleared his throat,

"Bad idea Headmaster." Dumbledore looked over at him,

"I beg your pardon Mr. Weasley?" Ron moved forward towards the desk, taking charge from his friend.

"We think she's in on it too." Dumbledore went back to Harry,

"Harry is this true?" Harry shook his head slightly from side to side, "No Professor." Ron was disgusted and hurt, "Harry! How could you say that? We have thought this all year, she's sneaky and underhanded. Remember the kiss!"

Dumbledore looked confused, "Kiss? What kiss?"

Ron crossed his arms and waited for Harry to talk, "Well?"

Harry was annoyed with Ron and embarrassed at the situation he found himself in. "Yes Sir. Fred and George Weasley, on the night they escaped, they saw Professor Parker kiss Lord Voldemort." Ron looked expectantly at Dumbledore who nodded gravely and rose from his chair.

"Mr. Weasley, please sit." Ron complied but he was furious at Harry so he refused to sit in the chair right next to him, instead choosing one by the fire place. Dumbledore went on, "First off, let me tell you that the Weasley twins did not escape in any shape or form. They were rescued by none other than the woman you are accusing. By putting herself and her position in great danger she saved your brothers and Kingsley from a terrible fate." Ron's angry face lost a bit of its malice at these words before Dumbledore continued,

"Also Mr. Weasley, did the thought that Kingsley was with them and most definitely saw the action taking place ever occur to you? Was he upset? If it happened all those months ago do you not think I would have taken care of it if something was wrong?"

Ron was deflated now but he dared a question, "Then why did she kiss him?"

Dumbledore remained as calm as he could in his painful state before he replied, "That is none of your concern."

In the uncomfortable silence that followed another knock came at the door, Dumbledore quickly answered it and Persephone walked through the large door holding a note in her right hand. She glanced at the boys, a second longer at Harry before she spoke to Dumbledore,

"Headmaster, we may have a problem." She stood with the paper clenched in her fist, anxiously waiting for Dumbledore to open up. He turned to Ron,

"Mr. Weasley, please leave us. We have some things to discuss. Harry wait in the hall please, I will send for you when I am ready." Ron got up, half way between being enraged and being humiliated, and grabbed his bag, stocking out before Harry. Ron wouldn't look Parker in the face, but she was so nervous that she didn't even notice.

When the boys had left the room, Dumbledore sat down at his desk and ushered Persephone to his side. She practically ran to his desk, next to frantic with her news. She slammed the paper down on his tabletop.

"Read." He put on his glasses and did as she said. The letter said this,

Professor Parker, Hogwarts School, England

To Professor Parker,

The mark upon your arm has a twin roaming around your school. Desmond Blake is dangerous. Be careful of him. I witnessed him in the forest today conversing with Lord Voldemort planning an attack on you, keep your eyes open and get help.

A Friend

"What do you think about this?"

Dumbledore had much to think of this, he knew who had sent this letter. He had thought he saw a black dog on the premises today and had been about ready to yell at Sirius for his disregard of security. But in this case, Dumbledore couldn't have been more pleased. Persephone spoke again,

"Do you want me to take care of him?" Dumbledore looked pensive before shaking his head,

"No, at least not alone. All we know about this guy is that he was powerful enough to fool both of us and a background check. He is obviously after Order Members and Harry."

"So what are we going to do?" Dumbledore shrugged,

"I don't know, I'm dying I so I'm not making any of these decisions any more. What do you think we should do?" Persephone thought about it for a moment before replying,

"He's too dangerous to be left here around Harry. We can take care of ourselves but Harry, although brave is not match for a sneak attack by someone he trusts."

Dumbledore interjected and stood, using his gnarled finger to make a point, "Ah, but Harry doesn't trust him." Persephone looked confused, "Harry was just here saying that he suspected a few staff members of being Death Eaters. Blake being one of them."

Persephone's chest heaved heavily, "I am assuming that I was the other?"

Dumbledore nodded solemnly, "He heard about Voldemort from the Weasley twins."

"Oh God." she looked sick and angry, at herself alone. How could she have been so stupid to let them see? "What do we do now?" She asked him in desperation. He looked at her once more with that characteristic smirk of his.

"Well, he needs to be told." Persephone jumped off the desk,

"What? Are you kidding? No! He cant be told!"

"Persephone keep your voice down, he is right outside!" She was furious, pacing the room with stomping feet and her arms covering her chest. Her long black sweater whipping about her knees as she went.

"Nothing good can come of this! I am the last person that could have been used against him Albus." Dumbledore was pleased, she had at least started calling him Albus, she continued, "Even when everything happened last June, Sirius's …..passing." she still couldn't say death. "I agreed that Harry must not be told about me in any way."

"But hasn't it been killing you not to tell him?"

"Of course but it is better for him in the long run. When this war is over he can have whatever is left of his family, we have to protect him."

Dumbledore smiled wide, "Now you are thinking like a leader." She stopped her berating and look at him with a confused expression. "You would sacrifice your happiness to keep someone safe."

She had no words to reply, his voice had taken on a strange light sound that made her nervous for his sanity.

"Persephone, I am going to transfer all of my powers to you tonight because at last, you are ready. But before I do, Harry!" he called, "Come in here!"

Persephone didn't quite know what to do.

**To Be Continued…**

**Like/Hate? - Comment whore I am.**

**Next Chapter: YES! The confrontation mahahahahahaha!. Not only Harry and Persephone but Voldie gets thrown into the process too.**


	15. Harry's Godmother

-1**Review Responses: **

Peyton: Ummm, that was odd. Voldie being gay, funny. I like it and I just might do it. And who do we know? I'm confuzzled, but that isn't new.

Oz- ……………… I have no words

Kurama: Yo dude, ha ha.

**Chapter 15: Harry's Godmother**

Ron left the office in a rage, blasting through the doors. The hallways were lonely and his furious stomping feet reverberated on the stone walls around him, his arms crossed in front of his body. He was muttering things to himself about Harry, along the lines of "that bastard" and, "how could he have turned his back on me like that?" Ron was so angry that he barely knew where he was going.

When he finally did look up he realized that he had wandered down to the potions corridor, cursing himself now he turned around and went to head for Gryffindor Tower. As he came up the stairs he ran right into Professor Blake who tried to feign concern over the boys condition,

"Hey son, what's wrong?" Desmond was disgusted with himself but it was what one must do in order to play the game. Ron shook his head and went around him to continue up the stairs, Blake shrugged his shoulders and went down the rest of the stairwell. Ron stopped,

"You know," he said, "It was you."

Desmond turned back, "Me?" he said, honestly confused.

"Yea," Ron continued, "I just talked to Dumbledore about your little romp into the forest and it caused a shit load of trouble for me." Ron gasped, he didn't know why he had just told him that. Perhaps he had needed so desperately to tell someone, he just picked the completely wrong person to tell. He was in a bit of trouble now.

Desmond stepped back on the bottom step, "What did you tell him?" his voice was calm but lined with dangerous undertones, his eyes were black and lifeless. Ron's body shook, and he practically began to cower in front of Blake. "I asked you a question boy. What did you tell him?" Ron wouldn't answer, even when the older man grabbed his arm and forced him against the wall, twisting it painfully. Ron cringed and looked around frantically,

"What are you going to do? You cant do anything with Dumbledore in the castle."

Desmond gave a sadistic grin, "That's where you're wrong, I infiltrated this school right under his nose didn't I?"

Desmond pulled out his wand and pointed it at Ron's chest, when the boy was lying on the ground, he called Prisca to help him move the body. Mr. Weasley was going with him back to Marvolo Manor for leverage.

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Harry heard his name being called from inside the office, Professor Parker hadn't come out yet. Why was she staying to talk to him? Was she upset that he had accused her? Harry stood and walked to the large door. Inside, much had changed.

Professor Parker was screaming at Dumbledore and he was yelling right back. They were inches from each others faces, the shouts were so loud and overlapping that Harry couldn't really discern what they were saying. He could hear snatches of words before they actually started letting the other talk.

"YOU REALLY HAVE CRACKED HAVENT YOU! YOU OLD FOOL!"

"HOW LONG HAVE YOU KNOWN HIM? HOW IN THE WORLD WOULD YOU KNOW WHAT WAS GOOD FOR HIM?" Persephone's red face became a deep scarlet with anger, she looked near to attacking the old Headmaster.

"A little problem for me to know him, seeing as how YOU allowed me to rot in Azkaban for 14 God damned years!" Harry figured they were talking about him, he just sat down and watched the fighting ensue. He knew it was wrong, but he had never seen someone take on Dumbledore, other than Voldemort, and he had to admit, it was slightly entertaining. She was a fierce competitor too it seemed. She had been in Azkaban, at least she admitted to that. The fight continued,

"Persephone! The decisions of the Order are not yours as of now! Step aside and let me tell him what he needs to know!"

"Fine! But I will not stay here to watch you put him in this much danger." she said coldly before turning on her heel and heading towards the office door. Before she made it out he yelled after her, "Figure out a way to catch Blake and then report back to me." She stopped and turned to face him, her eyes were cold but passionate, "You have no right to tell me what to do anymore. Find another spy." She slammed the door in his face, leaving an angry Dumbledore alone with Harry.

The boy didn't quite know what to say, Dumbledore did seem to have cracked a little. His white hair, usually so perfectly quaffed was flying around in strange ways, much like the muggle, Einsteen or something like that. His beard was messy and broken up, his clothes were ruffled and he looked exhausted, bloodshot eyes and all. Dumbledore barely looked like himself, his energy was gone, and that, above all the screaming and intrigue scared him the most.

The Headmaster went behind his desk and began mumbling incoherent words,

"Persephone- Death Eaters- Cave- I'll tell her!"

"Professor?" Harry ventured, Dumbledore jerked out of his ramblings and gave Harry a surprised expression, as if he hadn't known Harry was there.

His eyes were bright and he had a wide grin upon his face, "Oh Harry, I needed to tell you something! Right, now where was I?" He began shuffling through papers on his desk, Harry didn't want anyone else to see him like this. What was wrong with him? Suddenly Dumbledore shuddered and regained his composure, he blinked, looking around the room. His hand went to his forehead,

"Harry I am so sorry," he said, shaking his head with remorse, "it's the result of the power transfer to Persephone. It is almost like a piece of my, I'm not sure, my soul? Is going to her, if you haven't noticed she has gotten a bit bossy lately." He laughed and a hollow sound poured from his tired face, Harry didn't think this situation was funny in the slightest. In those moments staring at Dumbledore hold his head in his hands Harry lost the boyhood way of thinking. He used to think Dumbledore was invincible, immortal and indestructible, now he could see and feel the old mans mortality, and it scared him.

Dumbledore stood up. His hands shook and his face was etched into an expression of pain. So much it appeared, that he sat back down quickly, deciding it was better to give this information comfortably. Harry fidgeted in his own seat.

"Harry, for a long time I have kept you sheltered from anything I thought could emotionally harm you. Or at least I have tried, anything and everything I have done for you was out of love and respect. Do you understand?"

Harry nodded although he wasn't quite sure where he was going with this, Dumbledore began again.

"I'm glad you understand that because you are undoubtedly going to be angry with me very soon. For good reason I will grant. But," Harry was annoyed now, _Stop Stalling! _

"You said that even though there was evidence against Professor Parker you still trusted her and couldn't explain why?" Harry nodded. "Well, that is because you have known her before this year, you don't remember of course because you were far too young, but she was there."

"Sir, I'm afraid I don't understand." Harry was confused, _How could he have known her before?_ Dumbledore sighed,

"When your parents were just engaged your mother met Persephone Parker in the ministry, where they both worked. The two of them were best friends and Persephone was even the Maid of Honor at your parents wedding." Harry didn't know what to say first, he was annoyed, angry but above all, he was curious. There were questions flooding his mind waiting to burst the dam.

"Did she-" Dumbledore stopped him by holding up a gnarled hand, "I have more to tell you, and I will not be able to answer your questions. You will need to direct those to Professor Parker." Harry waited with anticipation, _What could be bigger news than that?_

"She was not only friends with your Mother, but she was close with all of your Fathers friends as well," he paused, "Especially Sirius." Harry's eyebrows arched, _Is this going where I think it is?_

"The two of them were extremely close and were both named your God Parents when you were born." Harry finally broke his silence while Dumbledore was attempting to find the right words,

"Professor Dumbledore, were they a couple?" He didn't answer at first, so he spoke louder, trying to dislodge the nervous headmaster from his ranting. "SIR, WERE THEY A COUPLE!"

Dumbledore looked over at him and slowly nodded his head, "They were engaged to be married, but they were put into prison before they could have a ceremony." Harry's eyes blinked and his breathing picked up, his temperature was rising and he felt…betrayed, was the only word to describe the pressure and pain he felt at these words. He didn't move, shock overpowering his body, he wanted to scream, to yell and shout. But, he couldn't. The people who he trusted the most had been lying to him for months, and it burned him like it never had before. Dumbledore interrupted his thoughts,

"Do not blame her Harry, I have been keeping her from you for much longer than the school year. Be angry, but learn to forgive."

Harry's mouth was dry, "But why should I forgive you?" Dumbledore was taken aback. "You have lied to me all my life to, 'keep me safe.' Well you know what, I'm fucking tired of it!" He was standing now, a student defending himself in front of his mentor.

"Now Harry there is hardly a reason to get like that."

"Hardly a reason to get like what? You lied to me! And you have my entire life, you send me out on my own on all these stupid missions and you cant trust me with a little bit of information?" Harry was into a full out shout now and Dumbledore figured it would be better to take the beating that was coming than to try and stop him.

The shouting continued, there was lots of cussing and things being hurled in all sorts of directions. Harry at one point tried to leave and then became even angrier because Dumbledore had locked the door. He picked up a large silver instrument on the top of his desk, before he threw it Harry glanced into Dumbledore's icy blue stare and something in him clicked. He dropped the item on the floor and backed away from the desk, turning his back towards the headmaster. The Headmaster was concerned,

"Harry?" he said, standing and beginning to walk towards the young boy. Harry held out his hand to stop him.

"I have had an epiphany Sir." he paused, " I hate you." he said the words slow, and their sharpness pierced Dumbledore's heart. "I must have known it all these years I just kept denying it to myself, you were the closest thing I had to a father. I guess I just didn't want to turn my back on it." He looked at Dumbledore once more and then headed for the now, unlocked door.

Dumbledore wanted to stop him, to call out to him and explain everything, about where Sirius was and that he was OK. Tell him about how much he valued Harry as the son he never had, but something pulled him back.

Harry reached the door and pulled it open to find, Dobby. Shivering with fright standing next to a little pink house elf with red and bloodshot eyes.

"Harry Potter Sir!" he was frantic and shaking. Harry bent down,

"Dobby? What's wrong!" The elf pointed to his companion, "She needs to tell The Headmaster something sir." Harry moved aside and allowed Dobby to assist his weeping friend inside. Dumbledore stepped from behind the desk and went to her,

"Prisca what has happened?" Harry noted that his voice was full of concern for the elf, he wasn't sure how he felt about that. Prisca breathed in as heavily as she could muster before breaking down again, Dumbledore looked up at Harry,

"Can you go to the table over there. Inside the top drawer is a small bottle full of blue liquid, could you bring it to me?"

Harry returned with the bottle and Dumbledore forced some of the potion down her throat as soon as it hit her stomach she calmed down and the tears stopped flowing down her small face.

"Now, that's better. Can you tell me what happened?" She nodded,

"Professor Blake asked me to follow Professor Parker and tell him everything that she was doing this morning. I was behind her while she walked to her office when he called me down to him. There was a red headed boy lying on the ground in front of, he had been stunned."

Harry whispered to himself, "Ron."

The elf went on, "Professor Blake wanted me to get all of his things together and meet him at the front gates in 5 minutes. I didn't know what to do, I had to obey him! But he took that boy with him sir!" She buried her head in her hands and began crying once more, Dumbledore assured her that she hadn't done anything wrong.

Dobby said, "Yes Harry Potter sir, I saw Prisca crying in the kitchens and ever since Winky I have become the elf therapist it seems. So I talked to her and she told me everything, because he is Harry Potter's friend I made sure that I told Professor Dumbledore as soon as possible!"

Harry ran his fingers through his disheveled hair, "What do we do?"

Dumbledore allowed Prisca to fall back onto Dobby as he went to his desk, thinking hard and fast, "Dobby, can you go and fetch Professor Parker please?"

Harry looked at the elf holding his friend, Harry jumped in.

"No Professor, I'll tell her." Dumbledore looked up at him, "don't worry, I wont hold her up."

As soon as Harry left Dumbledore's office he went into a sprint towards the Defense Classroom, luckily for him the One-Eyed Witch was between where he had been and where he was going. He had hidden the cloak in the witch's back because he had caught Dean poking around his stuff and he hadn't wanted any awkward questions to come up. Once he had to cloak he stored it underneath his clothes and continued his run down to Professor Parkers office.

He knocked on the door. She was inside waiting for him, on her desk she had some papers that she intended to look like she was grading, attempting to look natural.

"Come in." she expected him to walk in the door angry or quite possibly sad, but instead he was panicked. "Harry what's wrong?"

"He's taken Ron, Blake took Ron." She jumped into action, grabbing her cloak she faltered when she took the mask out of a locked drawer in her desk. Harry looked away, and she slid it shamefully into the folds of fabric under her arm. She couldn't meet his eyes,

"I know we have to talk but I have to do what I can as fast as I can." The pair moved into the hallway but Harry understood,

"Can I come with you?" She was locking her door and she stopped mid spell, staring at him as though he had just uttered an evil curse. She shook her head no,

"I'm sorry, this is far too dangerous, if I can manage to get there before Blake I might be able to sway Voldemort into letting me take the boy back to Hogwarts."

Harry interjected, "And if not?"

She sighed, "I will get your friend back. I promise you that." She turned from him and began a fast jog down the hallway. He knew that she would rescue Ron, but it was her that he was concerned about ever seeing again. Harry looked over his shoulders and when he was sure he was secure, slipped his invisibility cloak over his shoulders and pursued her as silent as a mouse through the castle.

Following her out into the grounds he slowly gained speed so soon he was standing just 5 feet away from her. She looked over her shoulder once or twice as she slipped on black leather gloves, both times she shook her head and jogged a little faster.

Outside the gates, he watched her pull her own cloak over her head, choosing to put the mask on later. If he timed it right, he could apparate with her to wherever Ron was and help her rescue him, then make sure she was kept safe long enough to talk to her about his parents and Sirius. She pulled out her wand and began to mutter the spell, mid-word Harry leapt forward from his hiding place and took a strong hold of her arm. Before she could stop it, the two of them were speeding off towards the Riddle Manor. Together.

To Be Continued…

**Like/ Hate?**- Tell me people!

**Next Chapter: **Persephone talks with Voldemort and tries to get both of the boys back to safety, but she gets in a bit of trouble because of a certain former coworker.


	16. The Ashoken Farewell

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Oz- Who do ya think it is?

**Chapter 16: The Ashoken Farewell**

Persephone and Harry landed on the side of the house in a secluded spot near the large wrap around porch. As soon as their feet touched the ground she moved her hand to his mouth to cover it, shoving him against the porch supports she glanced over her shoulders to make sure they were alone. When she was sure they were safe she looked at him, furious,

"Harry! What in Gods name are you doing here!" she was more panicked and nervous than anything else, although her anger was high. He looked into her eyes, her lock on his arm getting tighter and tighter by the moment.

"I wanted to help." he said nervously, trying to change the subject he asked, "Doesn't this place have a secret keeper?" She wasn't swayed, her eyes were wide and angry,

"Help? All you're going to do is get yourself killed! I told you I would get your friend back didn't you think I could?"

He shook his head yes, too nervous to say anything that might upset her more. When he refused to elaborate any further, she shook him forcefully, "Answer me boy!"

He gulped, "I was scared for you, I wanted to come and make sure you got out of here alright." She shook her head and mumbled, "This is why Dumbledore shouldn't have told you." In full force she told him, "Go back to the castle and stay there!"

Feeling a bit more confident Harry shook his own head, no. "I wont leave you."

She let out an aggravated sigh and then suddenly, she heard voices approaching and the sounds of their accompanying footsteps. She looked at him in desperation and he merely shook his head no, "I'm not leaving you." he repeated. She moaned in nervous frustration, arguing furiously in silence Persephone finally grabbed his shirt collar, pulled him in and whispered a hidden plea, "Your Mother, her favorite flowers, ironically, were roses." He wanted to respond but she was too fast for him, donning her mask at last she covered him in the cloak and pushed him under the porch, quickly whispering, "hide!"

Harry rested on his knees under the porch and watched as she pulled her hood up and over her head, 2 Death Eaters walked towards her. He felt a small chill go up his spine at the sight of her in full "uniform," she looked completely unrecognizable and undoubtedly evil. She greeted the others with familiar hellos and played the part seamlessly, Harry was shocked at how easy she made it look to converse with her enemies.

"Lucius, is there something wrong?" she asked the Death Eater with silver hair protruding from his hood. He sneered and nodded,

"It is good, and dare I say it? Convenient, that you showed up right now."

She cocked her head slightly in confusion, "Lucius, I don't understand. What is convenient about my arrival?" she was adjusting her hood and didn't see him pull out his wand, nor did Harry who was at the worst angle to see it.

Pointing it at her he replied, "It is convenient dear because Desmond has already showed up."

She went to pull her wand but thought better of it, knowing that a fight would draw attention and perhaps allow them to discover Harry. She raised her hands in the air to show her defeat, Lucius used a curse to wrap her hands in tight rope cords that cut painfully into her skin, and caused her wrists to begin bleeding. He pulled his arm back and hit her jaw with all his might, she swiftly fell to the ground and hit the hard earth. Harry saw her fall, blood spurting from her mouth, covering her teeth and chin, he sunk into the shadows when he saw her eyes pleading into the darkness for him to stay there.

The Death Eaters boastingly told her, "It's off to the graveyard with you! Our Lord needs to _talk_ about some things." He said, laughter rang in his voice. Harry could see the fear in her when Malfoy mentioned The Graveyard, before he picked her up and hauled her away towards the front of the house.

Harry new he had to get to Dumbledore, after almost 20 years, the perfect spy had been caught, and now her life was in danger. Harry had to find the one person that he knew could help her. Emerging from his hiding place he apparated with much difficulty to the town of Hogsmeade and didn't stop running until he reached Dumbledore's office.

Bursting in he explained to the old Headmaster (with rapid speed) exactly what had happened, Dumbledore didn't even have time to be angry with him or Harry have time to remember what he had said in this office earlier. All they knew was that they had to get to her as soon as they could, or she would be dead.

Dumbledore brought McGonagall to his office and had her call together the Order for a rescue mission, if he could help it, there wouldn't be any casualties today. Harry told McGonagall where to go and within a few minutes he and Dumbledore were heading towards the gates and Voldemort.

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Malfoy had taken Persephone's wand and released the body bind, choosing to shove her into the graveyard where Voldemort awaited her. At the sight of her being pushed towards him, he smiled,

"Lucius, check the grounds, she has an accomplice somewhere."

"My Lord? How do you know?"

"Because if she had been by herself she would have killed you about 4 times by now, with her hands alone." He glanced down at her and smiled a sadistic toothy grin, his sharpened fangs revealed all the way. Malfoy ran off to do his masters bidding, leaving Persephone with Voldemort in an empty graveyard, she knew there was no way of talking herself out of this. Her body was no use to her anymore, he wasn't interested. In all the years she had been a spy in his inner circle she had never known of anyone who came out alive from the graveyard. He chose it as a place for torture and eventual execution of any traitors that he deemed important enough to kill himself.

She prayed that Harry had made his way back to the castle, with baited breath she waited for Lucius to return with news.

She was on her knees, her mask torn off and her cloak hanging from her left shoulder, her hair was tangled where Malfoy had chosen to pull her along. Her face was covered in dirt from falling during the trek here and blood from the punch a few minutes earlier, and her hands were tied in front of her with an unbreakable rope. She did not look at him, knowing that he would try and read her mind, he couldn't know Harry had been here. Voldemort crossed over to her and took a white hand and began to caress her face, she pulled away, disgusted. He laughed.

"Now Persephone, we were lovers for years and you craved my touch, why the sudden change of heart?"

"I felt nothing but revulsion to your touch, I fought back vomiting every time you laid a finger on me. Why do you think that I wanted the teaching job? I could get away from you." He didn't look slightly hurt by this information, instead he leaned down and looked her in the face, smiling once more.

"Do you know what Persephone? You are going to tell me anything I want to know and I am not going to have to fight you for it now will I?"

Her steel grey eyes looked up into his and she suddenly, spit her bloody saliva, right onto his slitted nose, his face went into a contorted look of revulsion. She smiled, "It's a bit clichéd but I think you got my point?" She could afford to be insulting now, the only person he could hurt was her, which he didn't mind doing.

He stood and swiftly smacked her with all the force in his body, she tried not to move but the force, and pain, of the hit caused her to teeter to the side. Voldemort wiped his face clean and turned from her.

At that moment Persephone heard someone coming down the hill, two people actually, one seemed to be stumbling and falling. Voldemort looked up the hill and waited for the new arrivals. When they came to the bottom of the hill Persephone saw Ron, tied the same as she with Desmond not far behind.

Laying on the earth, she looked at Desmond with a passionate hatred burning in her usually cool eyes, he smiled at her and bowed his head in recognition. Her body shook from the pain of the ropes and she pulled herself back onto her knees, the blood from her face sticking to the dirt and pulling it up with her. Desmond began to laugh.

Voldemort took his wand and levitated Ron next to her. He was bloody as well, but it mainly looked as though he had fallen a few times, not that anyone had beaten him. The Dark Lord spoke, "Desmond, what do you suppose we do to the boy?"

She knew he was baiting her, but the look of terror on Ron's face forced her to act the part, so she played his game.

"My Lord, what would it take for you to let him go?" she tried to say it without rolling her eyes, knowing he was waiting for that question. He smiled,

"One thing actually."

"And what would that be?" she asked solemnly, her head still bowed, blood still dripping from her face. Voldemort crossed over to her once more, not dropping to her level anymore, knowing that would be a bad idea.

"Spy on old Dumbledore. Well," he paused, "For real this time."

She barked out a laugh, "No way," she paused, "But you didn't honestly think I would accept that did you?"

He shook his head no, "The niceties must be observed Persephone and now that they have been we can get down to business." he swung around and pulled his wand,

"First, you sit." he conjured a chair and she felt an invisible force pull her into and more ropes bind her. Ron was still shaking in the floor. "Usually now is the part where I do a terrible evil deed to show that I'm not kidding but I think we have known each other long enough that you don't need to be told that." The pain had subsided in her head so she gave a small grimace,

" You are actually right about something, good for you." He smiled at her boldness,

"Do you want to die? Because if you keep saying things like that you will die very, very soon."

Finally pulling her head from its position on her chest she looked at him and right into his eyes, "I have been wishing I was dead for a long time. You can only help me now."

"And if I kill the boy?" he pointed his colorless wand at the shaking figure of Ron next to her tied feet, her eyes fell and all was silent. She couldn't insult him any longer, it wasn't only her life she was dealing with anymore. "But this could be fun for awhile." His disgusting face went into a wide grin and his wand was between her eyes, pain overtook her. Nothing but pain, _let me die, let him kill me, please._ She prayed in her mind, she could hear him cackling and she could see through her blurred vision that Desmond was behind his master, laughing as well.

_No, I cant do this, I cant give in. _She wanted to fight the curse but it was so difficult. She could feel knives cutting and slicing her flesh, an intense pressure pushed down on her muscles and she wanted to throw up. Her body was writhing in pain, pushing down painfully on the cords that bound her, her screams reverberated on the sounds of the tombstones. She could feel Death reaching for her, she waited to see Sirius and then,

The Curse was lifted and she began to gasp for breath, choking on the blood that remained in her mouth. Tears of pain stung in her eyes and she looked angrily at Voldemort, who stood, towering, above her. He contemplated what to do with her, as she sat there breathing heavily, his attention turned when Lucius Malfoy came running back down the hill.

"My Lord, I am sorry but, we found no one." He panted, awaiting the punishment. Voldemort was bound to give him, Persephone sighed, wanting to weep with joy that Harry had gotten away safely. Voldemort turned to Malfoy,

"You will find them, is that correct?" his voice was dangerous, Persephone knew that tone too well, it meant he was about a second from killing you. Lucius's eyes grew wide.

"My Lord-" he was stammering to find the words, seeing Voldemorts favored Death Eater of near to 17 years tied to a chair being tortured was just a tad offsetting for him.

The Dark Lord spoke again, "I know what you are thinking Malfoy, and if you do not produce some kind of information within the next ten minutes I will be forced to tie you in a chair right next to dear Persephone here." Lucius's face was full of fright, he turned and practically ran up the hill towards the house in order to search for Persephone's companion. He turned his attention back to Persephone, whose breath had returned to normal, her eyes blaring into him.

"Now, lets see if we can try this again." He raised his wand once more at her,

"What do I have to do for you to send the boy home!" She yelled at him. He gave a hollow laugh, and smiled at Desmond.

"Now Persephone, I thought more of you. Did you actually think I was letting him go for anything? I am going to have much more fun killing him." he paused, "Or I could always give him as a gift to Amycus, what do you think Desmond?"

The Irishman smiled, "Why deny yourself My Lord?" Persephone wanted to respond but before she could speak she felt it again, pain, only the blinding, deep and scorching pain.

"_Sirius I am coming to you." _She thought, as all began to fade to black.

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Harry and Dumbledore were crouched behind a large bush, watching Voldemort and his…company. It was hurting Dumbledore to not immediately jump in but she seemed to be fine for now, despite the blood. If she was cursed again he would have no choice, but for now he waited for reinforcements.

Harry prodded his arm but Dumbledore brought a mysteriously bruised finger to his lips to silence him, "When we get her out she can answer any questions you have."

Harry nodded, obviously anxious, they had just watched Lucius Malfoy run down the hill and begin the report to his master. Dumbledore did not take his eyes off the scene in front of him but said to Harry, "Does Lucius have Persephone's wand?" Harry nodded once more, all of a sudden someone was behind him, Dumbledore didn't flinch and instead turned around to face the new person crouching behind him. It was Mad-Eye Moody, having much difficulty with staying low to the ground he had taken off his prosthetic leg so that a stump was supporting half of his weight.

In his gruff Scottish brawl he whispered to Dumbledore, "What do ya need me to do?" The Headmaster finally took his eyes off of the conflict in front of him and turned to his friend,

"Alastor, when Malfoy leaves I need you to retrieve Persephone's wand, he took it and she is gonna need it to help us." Without another word Moody apparated away to wait to spring a trap. The two remaining Order Members sat and watched as Malfoy was being scolded by his lord, Dumbledore said to Harry,

"When we finally do jump into action I need you to free the captives. I know you are going to want to go and free Ron first but you need to get to Professor Parker as soon as you can. With all due respect to Mr. Weasley he just doesn't match up to the dueling abilities that she has. Can you do that?"

Harry responded with a low yes, the pair watched as Malfoy began running back up the hill and Voldemort advanced on Persephone. Dumbledore began to fidget,

"Harry this is going to happen soon, with or without backup. Keep yourself out of trouble as best you can." Voldemorts wand was raised to her face, Kingsley and Tonks apparated in behind them as Dumbledore took out his wand and Moody appeared and handed Harry Persephone's. The Phoenix was rising from the ashes of the devils graveyard.

Persephone began to scream in pain and Dumbledore's cavalry came flying out to defend one of their own.

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Everything was beginning to fade, she knew she was screaming but she couldn't hear it all she could think of was Sirius. As soon as his face floated into her mind the pain succeeded, she blinked furiously to remove the blood from her eyes that the cut had let drip down from her forehead. She could barely make out an old man advancing on Voldemort, it took her a few minutes to comprehend that it was Dumbledore.

While trying to process this she felt something hard collide with her side, it wasn't painful, it just gave her a jolt and she turned to see, Harry. He was using his wand to burn through the ropes that constrained her, as soon as her hands were free she took Harrys wand from his hands and preformed a spell to blast through to rest. At last, standing Persephone glanced out at the Graveyard, Dumbledore and Voldemort were dueling so fast that they were only blurs. Moody was advancing on Desmond whose eyes were searching frantically for a way out, Kingsley and Tonks were sending spells at the Death Eaters streaming down the hill to assist their lord. A stray spell flew at the two boys (both were now free) and Persephone grabbed them both and took them to the ground.

Taking her wand from Harry she pushed them to the bushes, "Don't leave this spot unless you absolutely have to, send out as many curses and spells as you want but don't leave this spot." She stood and ripped the Death Eater cloak from her shoulders, she then ran to assist Tonks and Kingsley.

The three wizards stood and shot spells and curses at the Death Eaters coming down the hills until they finally got smart and began apparating into the Graveyard. Persephone turned to them and began with her true talent, dueling. It was Amycus, clad in full Death Eater garb, she smiled wide when she saw him.

"Oh I have been waiting a long time for this moment." she cooed at him. He had no time to respond, she sent a spell, royal blue flying at him as he sent a golden stream towards her.

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McGonagall had called Lupin to arms only 8 minutes ago and he was already on his way up the steep grade to Sirius's cave. He didn't like to apparate here, always fearing that if he screwed up his calculation in anyway he could not end up on the mountain and instead end up falling off of it. Once he reached the top he wiped the sweat from his brow and walked inside the cave, trying to catch his breath.

Sirius was asleep in the bed, his bare chest exposed with the serial number given to him in prison open to the world. Lupin went to his bed and kicked at the posts to wake him up, yelling his name at the same time. Sirius, always the deep sleeper opened his eyes and squinted at the room.

"Whassamatter?" he said, rolling back in the covers, even deeper than before. Remus sighed attempting to keep calm,

"She's been caught." Sirius did a double take and stared at his friend in absolute horror.

He had been waiting for this moment to happen for close to 20 years, he sprang from the bed, not remembering the fact that he had just been asleep. He went to his dresser and threw on whatever shirt he could grab first. As he dressed, he drilled Remus on what had happened.

"Where is she?" He said as he pulled on a pair of worn black pants that hung loosely on his hips.

Remus spoke quickly, "She is at the graveyard near Voldemorts family home Dumbledore and Harry are there now, waiting for assistance before they can attack."

"He brought Harry?" Sirius was incredulous, "AND he wants me to be there? Has he lost his mind or something?" (He was pulling on old and also worn black Dockers)

Remus nodded slightly, " Actually I think he has, but that doesn't matter to you right now. Dumbledore wants you to be near Persephone and, clearly, Harry. This is a good thing, take it for what it is and go save them." Sirius stood and grabbed his wand in his right hand not even bothering with tying his shoes, he just headed for the door, Remus right behind him.

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The battle was still raging, Amycus's corpse now lay limp and motionless on the ground as both sides took setbacks. As more and more Order Members arrived even more Death Eaters raced down the hill to join the fighting. Persephone had taken a permanent position, fighting alongside Mad-Eye Moody against Desmond. The Irishman was weakening, but he was a fighter through and through. Hiding behind headstones and trees the American and the Scot were having much difficulty trying to pin him down. Desmond laughed at them, even though he knew he had had too many near misses.

Kingsley was down and Tonks had taken to protecting Ron and Harry who were firing spells rapidly at any opposition. Dumbledore and Voldemort had been whizzing around the Graveyard for so long that hardly anyone took notice of them, except to get out of the way.

Persephone and Moody ran into a small group of trees after Desmond, they located him a few minutes later hiding behind a large oak. The two hunters flocked around the sides of a tree to corner their prey, Desmond sprung at her and she ducked beneath his arm and hit him with a spell, right to the gut. He doubled over in pain, coughing and sputtering onto the ground, she glanced at Moody to keep him there while she ran off to join the others.

When she reached the main battleground she saw that Dumbledore and Voldemort had stopped whirring around and had come to a stop in the center of the "arena." The Gladiators faced each other, Dumbledore, wheezing and shaking slightly was in front of Tom Riddles grave stone. Voldemort stood, his back facing the old ancestral home, out of breath and smiling a maniacal smile.

"Tom!" Dumbledore shouted, "What do you want from all of this? From today!"

Voldemort looked confused that Dumbledore would stop a battle when there were people getting hurt on both sides, good thing he didn't care. Voldemort shrugged his shoulders and laughed,

"Well the original purpose of today was to kill her!" he said, pointing to Persephone, "But it doesn't look as though that is going to happen now does it?" Persephone sprang to be at Dumbledore's right hand side, he glanced at her,

"No Tom, it doesn't look as though she's dying. She actually looks quite healthy to me." He laughed but Voldemort looked even crazier than before, his anger seeping out of him like lava. He looked at Persephone, standing proudly by Dumbledores side and he was overtook by hatred for the both of them. The battle raged on on either side of them and without warning, Voldemort sent Avada Kedavra straight at Persephone's heart.

The next few seconds were the longest moments that Dumbledore ever experienced, all the things that he had put his followers through, the lies, the lives lost, the families destroyed all came rushing through his mind. Even as he watched that light speed towards Persephone all he could see was the Potters, the Longbottoms, Sirius and Persephone in jail, Lupin being forced out of a job, Alastor on his wooden leg, Arthur Weasley lying in the hospital with his family hunched around him and it hit him. Why did these people follow him? He was just as manipulative as Voldemort, perhaps even worse. There was only one way to try and make it right.

He dived. The jet of light hit him square in the chest and he fell backwards, Persephone catching him and lowering him down to the ground. Time returned to it's normal speed and sound came back to him, the spell hadn't worked like it should have, but it was working. Dumbledore couldn't breathe, his hands shook uncontrollably and for the first time, he dropped his wand.

Persephone clutched at Dumbledore, trying to hold him up, his eyes were glassy and he was trying so hard to get air in. She crouched low over the body of her teacher, finally looking up at Voldemort, with tears fighting to emerge from her swollen eyes. She bit them back when she saw the Dark Lord, he stood, shocked at what had just transpired, slowly the other battles settled down, each looking at the impossible. All watching Dumbledore die.

Voldemort looked confused, as if his earth had just been turned upside down, the graveyard was silent except for the wheezes escaping from the old man on the ground. Voldemort shook himself out of his surprise and spoke to his Death Eaters,

"Leave!" he barked, no one dared disobey him, only the severely wounded remained behind, too hurt to apparate away. "He deserves better than that, to have all those people watch him die."

Persephone could barely believe her ears, "What are you talking about?" her arms were wrapped around him, clutching at his body and his life. "You've done it havent you? Go! Claim your victory, let him have these moments in peace!"

Voldemort, whose eyes had not left Dumbledore finally glanced around at the Order Members surrounding him. He became nervous and started to pull out his wand but Persephone spoke, "Don't do it, I want to strike a deal." At this time Harry came running up to the group and fell to his knees in front of Dumbledore, Persephone, now confident that he was taken care of stood and walked toward Voldemort.

The Dark Lord wasn't exactly nervous, but he knew he was facing a near to full order that was in the throes of mourning. He had no idea who to speak to, a leader would have to emerge, Dumbledore would never have left his beloved family alone. He watched as Persephone came towards him, she was a foot from his face before she began to speak.

"Both of our sides have suffered losses today, I know that. I also know that you respect him more than anything, you may hate him but that is one area you cannot deny." She paused and looked at Dumbledore, who was being held by a weeping Harry, the two seemed to be talking about something. Persephone went back to Voldemort, "I ask for 2 weeks, a proper mourning period for the entire country. There will be no attacks from us and nothing shall come from you. Is that understood?"

With those simple words, Persephone took control of the Order of the Pheonix and Voldemort realized it. He didn't even want to argue with her, he was still in such shock that the immortal Dumbledore was in front of his feet, dying. His lifelong enemy was finally gone, everything was going to change. Voldemort nodded,

"It is agreed, let me take my wounded and you all be out in 10 minutes. Is that understood?" Voldemort attempted to sound menacing, but he couldn't take his eyes away from the shaking body on the floor so his threat came out sounding hollow. He glanced at her before apparating away, his people slowly fading after him by a tricky piece of magic Voldemort employed. Persephone watched them go before racing back and kneeling next to Dumbledore, trying to find a way to save him.

Actually seeing his eyes become dark launched her into a frenzy, she kneeled before him not knowing what to do. But even in death he acted the part of a mentor and teacher, grabbing her hand he said,

"Persephone, calm down." She shook her head violently no, the tears were putting up an even stronger fight than before to burst forth.

"No! I wont let you go out like this, you have lived to great a life to die at the devils doorstep. I wont let you die like this." The rest of the Order was slowly gathering around, forming a tight circle. Tonks was crying, Amos Diggory watched in horror and Mad Eye Moody simply held his hat in his hand and bit his lip. Dumbledore looked into her eyes once more,

"Persephone how would you want to die?" She looked back at him, her hand on her forehead, a single tear broke through and went down her cheek. She didn't bother to wipe it away, she gave a small chuckle, "Fighting sir."

"Then at least that's how it happened." She smiled and bent to kiss his cheek, when she pulled her head away he whispered to her, "Forgive him." His eyes rolled back into his head, Harry fell upon the now lifeless corpse, weeping uncontrollably. The Other Order Members shoulders slouched down and Persephone was calm, there were no sounds in the entire area. No wind at all, everything was still as glass. The group of people had silently and without uproar become a band of mourners, there leader fallen dead in front of them.

Persephone looked up at them, "Who has ferry money?" She pulled a coin from her pocket and looked up expectantly at the rest of the people surrounding her. Moody pulled another coin from his many pockets and handed it to the woman sitting on in the dirty grass. She reached over and lowered Dumbledore's eyelids, gently placing the money on top of his closed eyes.

The band sat together for a few moments more, only Tonk's sobbing could be heard and then there was the crack of someone apparating. Persephone jumped up and looked around the graveyard, already suspecting foul play on Voldemorts part. When she saw no one in the yard itself she saw Tonks yelp and run towards the iron gates near the southwest corner. Standing there was Remus and Sirius side by side. Tonks jumped into Lupins arms but Sirius stood, still as a rock and looked back at Persephone.

**To Be continued…**

Like/Hate?- IT finally happened::sings: Reunited and it feels so…pissed! Ha ha


	17. The Pheonix Rises

-1**Review Responses:**

Oz- You sicko, happy that Dumbles is dead! That isn't very nice…but kinda funny.

Everybody else: I know there are more people reading this story because my Yoda showed me the page that lets you see hits. Please review! I wont beg because that would be weird, but please do it!

**Chapter 17: The Phoenix Rises**

Desmond woke up from a spell dazed and confused, laying on the floor outside of the Graveyard he picked his head up, spitting out the dirt that had managed its way into his mouth.

_What happened? _He asked himself, there was a pounding inside of his head and his back felt as though someone had prodded at him with a stick.

_Oh wait, that did happen._ He remembered Mad Eye Moody standing on his back with his peg leg after Persephone left, crushing his face into the dirt. The last thing he remembered was hearing a series of apparation sounds before he was knocked out.

He placed his hands next to his shoulders and pushed himself off the ground, everything began to spin and he grabbed his head to steady the motion. Desmond looked at the earth surrounding him and saw that Moody had walked back to the Graveyard, his peg leg making deep gashes in the earth. He groaned and picked himself up onto his feet, using a tree for leverage he looked for his wand on the ground. He vaguely remembered Persephone throwing it out of his reach as soon as they caught him.

Desmond retrieved the lost item at the base of another nearby tree and decided to head back to the Graveyard to see what all the apparating noises had been about. Rubbing his head he walked into the edge of the graveyard and scanned his surroundings, when he saw all the Order Members there instead of the Death Eaters he ducked behind a large headstone to try and understand what was going on.

He could see a large group of them surrounding something on the ground, a girl with pink hair was crying and running towards someone at the front gate. Persephone was looking at whoever the crying girl was running at, she was motionless and pale.

Desmond turned away and leaned against the monument, clutching his wand he thought to himself rapidly about what to do. Voldemort wouldn't have left them here unless something major had happened, he tried to get a glimpse of the house but he couldn't see it from here. Putting his wand in his back pocket, he got on all fours and began a sneaky stretch towards the front gates. If he could get there he could see the house and make a plan.

He ruled out apparating, the crack would attract attention to him, and with that many Order Members it was bound to end up bad for him. He tried to hear what they were saying but they were all too far away to make any sense of the snippets of conversation he could make out. As he got closer to the gates he stopped and looked from behind the current headstone he was using to hide, he jumped.

Persephone was about 10 feet from him now, she had come towards the gates as well. Desmond was smart enough to stay put, fearing that any movement would attract her attention. He heard her yell back to the group,

"Take the body to the school and let Harry go with him. Everyone else, meet at Headquarters in 20 minutes" Desmond could recognize the sound of more apparating and he dared to peak at what was happening.

Persephone was still standing in the same spot, she looked at the girl with pink hair and the man that Desmond remembered was Remus Lupin. One of Greybacks men. The two of them left as well but Persephone stayed in the same spot and stared where she had been concentrated for some time. He couldn't see what she was looking at but he couldn't move either.

"Well, are you gonna say something?" Desmond heard a meek voice ask her, it was male, low, gruff and masculine. But frightened at the same time.

"I have nothing to say to you." Desmond risked the inch that he needed to get a glimpse of the man that she was speaking to. When he moved his foot, it went onto a twig, cracking loudly, the next few moments happened very fast. Desmond threw himself from behind the headstone and sent a spell flying at Persephone, choosing the devil he knew. The man by the gates performed a spell that sent the cruciatus at himself instead, he took it in the chest and fell to the ground, hitting his head on a rogue headstone.

Persephone stunned Desmond within seconds and let him fall into a heap on the ground. Going to Sirius she grabbed him and apparated them both to Grimmauld Place. Choosing to get out of there as fast as she could, she didn't want to deal with Voldemort now that their agreement had fallen through.

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She hit the foyer of Grimmauld Place where she was immediately surrounded by Order Members begging for news and instructions, she sought out Lupin and asked him to take Sirius upstairs and take care of him. Having that done she had everyone go to the kitchen to begin a meeting.

The cavernous room was dark, with only a fire lighting everything, the flames cast eerie dancing shadows on the walls. The still grieving and shell shocked Order came to the table and sat in silence waiting to hear someone speak. Persephone went to the edge of the table and rested her palms on the old wood, leaning over she breathed in deeply, a thousand thoughts racing through her mind all at once.

_Sirius is upstairs, alive, Dumbledore is at the school, dead, Voldemort is on top, Harry is mentally weak right now, The Order is antsy and Remus lied to me. _She let the breath go and pulled her head up from its defeated position pushing past her own issues for the moment,

"I know this is emotional, but we have work to do, too much to be mourning right now. I am putting Minerva and Mad-Eye in charge of Dumbledore's…arrangements." She couldn't bring herself to say funeral just yet, "I will speak to them about that, we also need-"

"So what, you are just taking over The Order? Just like that? No voting? No democracy? Why should you lead us rather than someone else?" Asked Amos Diggory, his Irish brawl making his questions sound accusatory, she was in no mood to fight with him for authority, she would if she had to though. Just as she was about to open her mouth to reply, Lupin walked through the door,

"Because she was handpicked by Dumbledore himself, its what he wanted. Besides, she knows Voldemort better than anyone in this room." She glanced at him, wanting to rush at him and cast the most heinous cruciatus curse on the planet right into his chest for lying to her. But for now, she stood, tall and proud, and let him speak. Walking towards the table in a very uncharacteristic swagger, he looked more like Sirius than himself, Remus spoke to the Order Members,

"Think about it, Persephone has been closer to Voldemort than anyone in the world, let alone this room. Dumbledore has been training her, she has the leadership abilities, who here wouldn't trust her? Also, she has lost more than possible anyone else fighting this war, I think she has a score to settle with Voldemort."

At this Amos stood up and said in a loud, defensive voice, "How can you say that! I lost my child to that sonavabitch!"

"And that makes you able to lead us in a war? Losing a child?" This remark came from Arthur Weasley, who sat back in his chair, rubbing his crying wife on the back.

He leaned towards the table and stared Amos down, "I have come close to losing my own children, the twins, and in fact, Ron, today. Who know who saved them? All three of them?" Amos said nothing so Arthur continued, pointing at Persephone, "This woman has saved them. With great risk to her own life, she has saved not only them but many Order Members as well. How dare you say that she would have no right to lead us."

He paused, "I for one would be proud to follow her, I will pledge myself today to someone who has willingly sacrificed as much as she has." His voice was raising as he started to stand from the table, Molly softly touched his knee and brought him down, sitting once more. Amos looked around the room for someone to help him, finding not a friendly face in the crowd he turned to the woman standing regally in front of the fire and almost shouted at her,

"So you spent a few years in Azkaban! Big deal you-" But he was cut off, Mad-Eye Moody walked into the room, clearly having just returned from taking Dumbledores body to Hogwarts and immediately started in on him,

"I saw her coming out of Azkaban Diggory, and believe you me. She has earned the right, it seems as though you are the only person that has even the slightest problem with her and if that is so, you can go on ahead and get the hell out of this house.I'm sure that no one would miss you." Most of the Members seemed to agree with his sentiments, nodding and glaring at Amos, and the ones who weren't didn't seem to disagree. Amos scanned the room in one last hopeful attempt, and, upon seeing no one to help him, conceded and slowly took his chair.

Mad-Eye and Lupin both found seats and looked up at her expectantly, she tried to stay calm, this day was just too much for her. She took a breath,

"Mad-Eye can I expect you and Minerva to take care of the funeral arrangements?" he nodded and she continued, "Now I need someone to go to the school and fetch me Professor Flitwick and get him here as soon as he can once this meeting is over. To Remus," she looked up at him, "Desmond surprised us in the graveyard, it isn't safe to go back to Greybacks Men. He may or may not know, but I don't want to take that chance."

Instructions and various other articles were covered in the next ten minutes, the Aurors now had to be extra careful since the Death Eaters knew them and could attempt to sabotage them at work. Tonks held Lupins hand throughout the meeting, he didn't protest.

When they were finished Mad-Eye went to the school to fetch Flitwick and Persephone went upstairs to check on Sirius. Opening the door to his bedroom she noted though, it was still technically his room, it no longer smelled like him. The cigar smoke and cologne was gone, it had been replaced by dust and mold from the shower. He lay in the bed, fast asleep, Remus had healed his head as well as he could, the bandages were already blood stained and Sirius was covered in a thin layer of sweat.

Walking to the bed, Persephone threw the covers off him to cool him down and then proceeded to the bathroom to get a cloth. He heard her in the room and opened his eyes, he knew if he sat up he would feel dizzy, so for the time being he rested on the soft covers and waited for her to come to him. He heard the water running and saw the bathroom light turn off, her boots reverberated on the wooden floors as she walked back.

She sat on the bed beside him and laid the cloth on his forehead, when his eyes fluttered open she didn't smile, only took him by the back of the neck and pulled his head off the pillow. He would have moaned but he knew that might be the last thing he ever did, she was beyond angry and he didn't want to push her.

She took out her wand and ripped off Remus's bandages without worry or care of the hairs she pulled out as well, she performed a complex healing spell and the gash in the back of Sirius's head healed immediately. The rest of his jet black hair was still matted with blood but at least the pain was gone. She let his head fall back on the pillow and he still, remained silent. Watching her dab the blood from his face off with the washcloth he stayed mesmerized by her movements, her beautiful eyes were filled with such apathy that Sirius began to feel cold. Or perhaps that was the fact that he no longer had any blankets, he started several sentences that he never knew what to say to finish, so he allowed them to die, still transfixed by her hands gliding over his body.

When she deemed him clean enough she leaned back and threw the washcloth inside the bathroom, wiping her hands dry on her dirty grey slacks. Her hair was matted with blood as well, her teeth had a faintly red tinge to them and she was developing a pronounced bruise on her equally defined cheekbone. The bruise sat above her newly made gash that may soon enough become a scar, one of Desmonds spells that had come a little too close for comfort. Her clothes were smeared with dirt and grass stains, the shirt she had worn had a few rips in it that showcased some more of the cuts she had received during the afternoon.

She leaned over him, tenderly and spoke, "How are you feeling?" She gave a small smile and Sirius breathed a sigh of relief,

"I'm fine now."

She smiled full on now and said to him, "Good," she caressed his hair, "because I so would so hate to do this to a sick man." Sirius looked confused and in a rapid motion she pulled her hand back and hit him with all her might straight across the cheek.

Now, for someone as strong and as powerful as Persephone, doing something with all her might meant you would feel like a bomb hit you and only you. Sirius shot up into a sitting position and clutched at the new red mark on his cheek. Persephone stood from the bed and walked towards the door, "Bastard." she whispered before she grabbed the handle. The red spot on his face seemed to throbbing with pain but he jumped out of bed and yelled at her,

"What was that for!"

Persephone turned on him, a bewildered and furious look on her dirty face, "Do not act stupid Sirius! Consider yourself lucky that I didn't Crucio you!"

"Lucky? Lucky? You just hit the crap out of my face!"

She rolled her eyes, "Well glad to see that your vocabulary has expanded, now instead of saying shit you can say crap, I am so proud of how far you have come!"

Before he could say anything to reply there was a knock at the door, they stood at a standstill, Persephone asked,

"Who is it?"

She heard Professor Flitwicks small voice from the hallway, "You called for me?" He sounded timid, as though the last thing he wanted was to upset her further. She stared at Sirius with a malicious glare in her eye,

"We're not finished here." She said as she pointed her finger at him. She stormed from the room to meet with Professor Flitwick about the new Fidelius Charm that needed to be done. Sirius sat in his bedroom, all alone on the bed with his head in his hands.

&&&&&&&&&&&&

Minerva McGonagall sat in a chair besides Dumbledore in the Hospital Wing staring at the body of the man she had loved for so long. She didn't know how long she had been here, minutes, hours perhaps? Time had lost all meaning to her now, Poppy had drawn a curtain around the bed so that Minerva could have this time alone. At least as most alone as she could ever hope to manage, the funeral would be the hardest part. No, notifying the public to come to a funeral would be the worst part. She didn't know how she was going to say goodbye in front of all those people.

She wouldn't break her stiff posture and would never weep in front of others, that much she knew. But she also knew that she could not bid farewell before an audience of mourners. Minerva stood and took out her wand, she cast a spell around the curtains, no sound could enter or come out, when this was done she returned to her seat. Her back straight as a board, she spoke to him,

"You old bastard." she said to him, "Why couldn't we have found the time for each other? And now its too late."

She stayed with him another hour or so, until Mad-Eye Moody came, she greeted him graciously and went to her bedroom. As soon as the door to her chambers closed, she allowed herself to cry, and when she left for her office there was no trace of a tear to be found anywhere on her old and wizened face.

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Harry had been with the body for a long while, Hagrid came to pay his respects and offered for him to come and get some tea with him. Ron was with Hermione in the common room, both consoling each other and Harry figured that after today he was pretty much on his own. They had each other and Harry had, well, Harry had Hagrid. Needless to say, he was miserable walking down to the small hut that was Hagrids house.

The biscuits were stale and the tea tasted old, inside this shack, nothing had changed but he knew that everything was wrong. Hagrid was sullen and sober, a very unusual combination and Harry didn't even care that there was an uncomfortable silence in the musty room. In fact, he preferred it that way so when Hagrid began to speak Harry was already on edge.

"You know, at least he died for what he believed in. There was no other way he would have wanted to go." he paused and glanced at Harry, whose head was resting on his hands. He sighed, "You know your not alone, I know you thought of him kinda like a da' but-"

"Stop it." Harry's voice was passionate and cold all at the same time, Hagrid was taken aback but he decided to let it go. He continued, "They said you were one of the last ones with him, what did he say to you?"

Harry shook his head, "Love, it was all about love, forgiveness and acceptance." he paused and smiled, "No clue what he meant about that whole forgiveness thing huh?" He said with a bit of hope in his voice, Hagrid only shook his head and plowed on through his oversized beer mug while Harry stared off into space. He turned his head towards the giant,

"What do you know about Professor Parker?" he asked him. Hagrid didn't know what to say,

"What do ya mean?"

"I know that she's my Godmother so its not like you have to hide something from me. I just want to know what shes like, outside of class you know?"

Hagrid shook his head, "Well Harry, in that case, I think you need to talk to her. Is that what Dumbledore meant about the acceptance and forgiveness?"

Harry just shook his head, "I don't know."

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The funeral took place on a Sunday afternoon, it was overcast and the clouds threatened rain, but the mourners came anyway. In the hundreds wizards apparated to Hogwarts castle and crowded around the casket and podium to pay their last respects. Many people made speeches, Minerva of a love lost, Moody of a friend, Harry of a family member and finally, Persephone stood to give hers, of a Mentor.

"I am not here to say much, in true Albus Dumbledore fashion I will try and make every sentence count." she paused and looked at all the mourners, crying and upset, clearly they hadn't known him all that well.

"He didn't need to make a grand speech, he only needed to speak. And even his final words were used to teach, they taught me to go out fighting. They taught me that in order to be a good leader, you must be completely selfless. And he was, nothing he did in life was for his own benefit. He gave up family, love, life so that we could have ours." She had prepared more on how he had taught her to forgive people but Persephone thought to herself about Sirius, sitting in the back of the crowd in Moodys old invisibility cloak and she couldn't bring herself to say the rest of it. It was now too hypocritical. She couldn't forgive him, at least not yet.

The End


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